Tickets to Muhammad Ali memorial gone quickly

Just as they did for his heavyweight title fights, tickets went fast for Friday's memorial service for Muhammad Ali.

Hundreds of fans lined up at 6 a.m. ET on Wednesday at theKFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, with the box office set to open at 10 a.m. With people stretching around the block, however, the box office opened at 8:15 a.m., and by 9:20 a.m., the roughly 15,000 available free tickets were gone and the windows closed.

According to media reports, fans chanted "Ali" as the box office prepared to open.

A tweet on the KFC Yum! Center account announced that tickets were sold out but said the service will be streamed on the venue's outdoor video screen.

Friday's services for Ali in his hometown will include a procession through the city and a private burial, followed by the public memorial at 2 p.m. On Thursday, there will be a prayer service at Louisville's Freedom Hall arena starting at noon ET.

Ali died Friday from septic shock due to unspecified natural causes.

Ali insisted the tickets for his memorial be free. But some people are looking to turn a profit. Some ticket holders immediately went online offering to sell their tickets.

Others posted online pleas to buy tickets. One wrote that he and his mother were driving in from Chicago for the service for the boxing great and willing to pay $50 for two tickets.

One of the posters offering to sell tickets, who was reached by phone by The Associated Press, said a friend of his sold tickets to the memorial service. When asked for how much, he hung up.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.