football and the Paralympic Games, two challenges in terms of ticketing

“An unprecedented enthusiasm in the history of the Games. » Tony Estanguet cited the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday, December 20, to congratulate itself on the good Olympic ticket sales. Some 7.6 million tickets, out of the 10 million intended for the general public for the Olympic fortnight (from July 26 to August 11), found buyers during the different sales phases, recalled the head of the Olympic Organizing Committee. Games (Cojop) at the time of taking stock of the end of the year – the ninth and last before the Games.

The latest marketing of 400,000 new tickets, sold in a few hours on November 30, cannot prove him wrong. Forgotten the spring controversy over not really ticketing “accessible” neither ” popular “, yet two of the strong markers defended by the organizer of the Games. From now on, the ticket office is running at full speed and would only make people happy.

Of the 2.4 million tickets still open to the general public, around one million are not offered for sale because they are reserved for partners of the Games or “retained” by Cojop while waiting to more precisely refine the gauges of the different sites depending on technical constraints (stands, location of television cameras, etc.), detailed Etienne Thobois, general director of Paris 2024.

“There are still opportunities to seize”of the “good deals in many sports”, however argued Tony Estanguet. Particularly for football and handball, where men’s quarter-finals are available from 65 euros and 70 euros. But there are “good plans” especially for football. Because of the 1.5 million tickets still open for sale to the general public, the overwhelming majority concern places for football.

The men’s and women’s Olympic tournaments, spread across seven stadiums in France, offer a total of nearly 2.5 million tickets for sale (or nearly 25% of the total Games ticket volume) and only around 1 million have been found. takers. The former three-time Olympic canoe champion and his teams are banking in particular on the draw for the football tournaments on March 20, and on the probable participation of French star Kylian Mbappé to sell off the remaining stock of tickets.

80% of Paralympic tickets acquired by public actors

Another challenge faces the organizers: ticketing for the Paralympic Games (from August 28 to September 8), which, traditionally, suffer from a lack of attractiveness. So far, around 830,000 tickets – out of 2.8 million in total – have been sold since October 9, the official opening date of the Paralympic ticket office. “A solid first base”estimated Tony Estanguet, who recalled that at each Paralympic edition, 40% of places are only available after the start of the Olympic competitions.

However, of these 830,000 Paralympic tickets, 80% were acquired by public actors – including the State for 300,000 – and by the partners of the Games. In other words, less than 200,000 tickets for the Paralympic competitions were purchased by the general public. Which puts into perspective the scope of the sales volume put forward by the Cojop and the interest of the public, despite disciplines such as blind football at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, or armchair fencing in the nave of the Grand Palais, which are already almost sold out. , according to the organizer.

Paris 2024 knows this: a big effort must be made to (better) make the French aware of the names of their Paralympic champions. This is the work that Cojop intends to carry out in the first quarter of 2024. “The challenge now is to involve all French people in this adventure [paralympique] », summarizes Tony Estanguet. Not the easiest of challenges.