bid team believed that London could end the Games with a surplus of more than £100 million. The organising committee laid out the following figures: £560 million for new venues, including £250 million for the Olympic Stadium. £650 million for the Olympic village. £1.5 billion to run the Games. £200 million on security. The revenue for the games was also projected: £1.5 billion from a special Olympic National Lottery game. £625 million from a council tax surcharge of £20 per year for London households. £560 million from IOC television and marketing deals. £450 million from sponsorship and official suppliers. £300 million from ticket sales. £250 million from the London Development Agency. £60 million from licensing. While this projection seemed reasonable, many were adamant about the actual costs. In early 2007, it was suggested that the actual cost of the games could exceed £9.35 billion (US$18.03 billion), well over the bid projection. For comparison, the 2004 games in Athens cost around £7 billion (US$13.5 billion) and estimates for the 2008 games in Beijing run between £10 billion and £20 billion (US$19 billion and US$39 billion). Ticketing Approximately 8.0 million tickets were proposed to be available for the Olympics, and 1.5 million tickets for the Paralympics. and the London Organising Committee planned on selling a total of 6.5 million (an 81% sellout) Olympic tickets, and a 63% sellout for Paralympic tickets. Olympic tickets go on sale on 15 March 2011 and should remain on sale until the start of the event, depending on availability. With the purchase of a ticket, each person is entitled to free transportation on London's public transport system for that day. Paralympic tickets go on sale on 9 September 2011. Marketing Director David Magliano said that 1.5 million tickets would be sold for £15 (US$29). The average ticket price was set to be £40 (US$77) and 75% of all tickets would cost less than £50 (US$97), prices that Magliano says are reasonably accessible to almost everyone in Britain. In addition to stadium seats, there would be 20,000 £10 (US$19) tickets for the Olympic Park to watch events on big screens. Political commitment To facilitate the Olympics at a governmental level, Cabinet-level Minister for the Olympics Tessa Jowell was set to be responsible for the games. Also in the Cabinet would be an Olympic Security Committee to co-ordinate security planning. In addition, the government proposed to create the Olympic