The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are just a few weeks away, and ahead of the coveted event, the olympic organizing committee has launched a new “Ticketing Thursdays” campaign.
Every Thursday until the start of the Olympic Games in July, tens of thousands of new Paris 2024 tickets will be released. The campaign will launch on May 30, with around 40,000 tickets being released at 10 a.m. These will include 30,000 tickets in sports or category seats that are currently sold out; other tickets up-for-grabs will be available across various sporting events including artistic gymnastics, rugby sevens, beach volleyball, basketball, and boxing.
The tickets will come from places that had been allocated on a quota basis, which were pending the finalization of the capacity at various competition venues. Others will come from places that were reserved for various stakeholders involved in the Games.
According to organizers, tickets for the evening athletics will be available for €85, followed by French rugby sevens team tickets for €90. Volleyball sessions — set to take place at the foot of the Eiffel Tower — will be available for €24, while the French women’s basketball team and French women’s football team tickets are going for €50 and €30, respectively.
Earlier this year, the Seine-Saint-Denis government announced it was giving away 150,000 Olympic and Paralympic Games tickets to Seine-Saint-Denis residents, with a majority of the ticketing coming from state allocation.
The campaign follows criticism surrounding ticket prices to the Olympic Games. When tickets first went on sale to the general public, around 7 million tickets were sold. Many have spoken-out regarding the high ticket prices; Sebastian Coe, the president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and former head of the London 2012 organizing committee, criticized the Paris 2024 bosses for the cost of tickets for next year’s event, noting that fans and the families of athletes will be priced-out.
Additionally, organizers are struggling to sell tickets to the Paralympics. Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet disclosed in March that a mere fraction of the envisioned three million tickets were sold, amounting to just 900,000 tickets. This falls considerably short of the target set by organizers, signaling a potential struggle in achieving the goal of hosting the best-selling Paralympics in history.
Earlier this month, organizers launched the official Paris 2024 ticketing app, which allows ticketholders to transfer tickets to beneficiaries and list one or more tickets for sale. In terms of resale, people can buy tickets at its initial face value price, as well as a processing fee.
The 2024 Olympic Games are scheduled to run from July 26 to August 11, overlooking the waters of the Seine. During the kick-off ceremony, 10,000 athletes will travel to the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Tickets can be found via the official Paris 2024 website here.
