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.
600K Tickets Still Available for Paris 2024 Olympics Amid Late Ticket Releases
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are less than a week away, but still, around 600,000 tickets are up-for-grabs.
According to Olympic organizers, there are seat available for more than 20 sports, including the 100m finals, as well as Josh Kerr’s attempt to win 1,500m gold. The women’s finals 200m is still available, along with the women’s 100m final, and the men’s 100m final. Around 4,000 tickets also remain for Friday’s opening ceremony.
Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet admitted that many tickets are on sale now due to “contingency,” noting that organizers had planned to release these at a later date.
“In total at the beginning, we had 10 million tickets but we took 20 percent of the total numbers in contingency,” Estanguet said.
He went on to say that over the past six months, “new ticket opportunities” have arrived, and “that’s why there are still tickets available one week before because now we have the final plan of the delivery.”
Estanguet’s remarks show that the idea of pricing tickets exorbitantly high and seeing slow sales isn’t just a practice in the concert industry. Over the past year, tour organizers have taken advantage of slow ticketing, where prices are set at the highest level fans are willing to pay, and then over time, those prices fall. This practice, however, seems to have run its course, as low sales have led to the cancellation of tours including Jennifer Lopez, The Black Keys, and Future with Metro Boomin.
| READ: Olympic Swimmer Asks IOC For Help After Parents Fell Victim to Ticket Scam |
Paris 2024 ticket prices have been a hot topic since the games were first announced. The committee received harsh criticism for high ticket prices with many speaking-out, including Sebastian Coe, the president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and former head of the London 2012 organizing committee. He 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.
Estanguet refuted those claims, pointing to the fact that London’s games took place 12 years ago, and with inflation, prices are “within the norm for such an exceptional experience.”
“Olympic Games accessible to all, you said,” tweeted Amandine Buchard, a judo athlete representing the host nation, France. “In fact, you have to take out a bank loan so that families and loved ones can have the chance to come and see us… Well at least if by then there are still tickets.”
| READ: Paris 2024 Olympics Post Record Sales Ahead of Event |
Nonetheless, this year’s games have already broken records — 8.6 million tickets were sold for the Olympic Games and 1 million were sold for the Paralympics, marking a record previously held by the 1996 Atlanta Games at 8.3 million tickets.
