Paris Olympics 2024 President Tony Estanguet has defended the ticket prices, stating that they are not more expensive than those for the Summer Olympics 2012
Follow Us
According to a recent survey by Odoxa, which was conducted by the sports betting giant Winamax and the RTL media group, 82% of French people think that the cost of tickets for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 is too high. The poll, which included 1,005 French adults 18 and older, also revealed that 79% of participants thought the ticketing process to be challenging. Two weeks after the initial round of ticket sales, in which three million tickets were made available, these findings were made public. Successful applicants, however, had to pay entry fees for three competitions at once, with several sports costing a minimum of €80 (£70/$85).
The survey was conducted in the beginning of March. The second round of ticket releases will take place in May. Fans will be able to buy single tickets for sporting events, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and other events during this phase. At the conclusion of 2023, there will be a third and final round of ticket sales. The Paris 2024 Games organizing committee has defended the ticketing strategy, saying it is consistent with the tagline “Games Wide Open.” Additionally, they noted that 1,000,000 tickets cost €24 (£21/$25) and that nearly 50% of tickets for the general public cost €50 (£44/$53). Social media users have criticised the event, with many pointing out that only about half of the €24 tickets were available to the general public. This is because the State had reserved them and given them to the communities to use.
Some athletics tickets have been selling for as much as €690 (£610/$730), which has drawn criticism. In addition, fans were frustrated by how quickly tickets for events like fencing and rock climbing sold out. Notwithstanding these problems, most respondents (69%) expressed enthusiasm for the Games being held in Paris, with 64% believing that it will open up business opportunities for France. Yet, 64% of respondents also said they lacked confidence in the ability of the organising committee to control the costs of the Games.
Read more: “A very strong team” will address cybersecurity risks in Paris 2024 – Damien Rajot
72 percent of respondents agreed that Russian athletes should be allowed to compete, but just 28 percent said that they should be allowed to do so while flying the national anthem and flag. This happened after the Russian doping scandal, which resulted in the nation’s exclusion from the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics.
The ticket prices have been justified by the Paris 2024 Olympics President Tony Estanguet, who claims that they are comparable to those for the football and rugby World Cups and the London 2012 Olympics. He added that a lot of the tickets are reasonably priced for the general people. Despite this, the survey’s findings indicate that many French citizens believe the costs are excessive and the ticketing procedure is too difficult. These issues will probably need to be addressed once the organizing committee gets ready for the second round of ticket sales.
