Let the disappointed and the unlucky be reassured: they will soon have a second opportunity to obtain tickets to attend the Paris Olympics in 2024. Because after a first phase of sales which turned into controversy due to prices deemed excessive and the obligation to buy tickets in packs, quickly raising the bill, the second phase begins this Thursday, May 11.
If in the first phase, three million people had tried their luck, this second session attracted more people. “There were four million registrants,” the organizing committee said the day after the draw registration period closed.
Nearly 99% of people who registered for the first phase wanted to try their luck for the second. “Whether we have already been drawn or not does not change the chances of being selected for phase 2,” said Michaël Aloïsio, spokesperson for Paris 2024, on France Info.
From May 11 and until July, some 1.5 million tickets will be sold to those, French or foreign, who have registered for this second phase. But this time, the winners will have the opportunity to buy single tickets. “I expect this second phase to continue to generate disappointments and frustrations. It’s inevitable, but it will once again make people happy, and you have to try your luck, “explained, Tuesday, March 14, Tony Estanguet, the boss of the organizing committee of the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. (Cojop).
Cojop was pleased to have sold 3.25 million tickets during the first phase of sales. In total, of the 10 million tickets available, 8 million will be sold directly to the general public.
The state will, for its part, buy 400,000 tickets for schoolchildren, volunteers from the sports movement, people with disabilities… for an amount of 11 million euros, for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Communities, Paris or the department of Seine-Saint-Denis for example, have already pre-ordered tickets.
If you receive an email telling you that you have been drawn, you can then acquire up to thirty tickets. But be careful: you have to deduct from this total the places purchased in packs during the first phase. If you were the lucky holder of ten places, you can buy up to twenty if you are drawn again.
For this new purchase phase, 767 sessions are on sale, in all disciplines. Because 20% of the events or finals had not been offered during the first purchase period. You will be able to buy up to six tickets per session, four for the most prestigious final rounds as well as for the opening and closing ceremonies (the most popular sessions), which will be sold only individually. .
Here too, the first draw will have the choice in the remaining tickets available.
Prices start at 25 euros. Approximately 150,000 tickets will be at this price, of the remaining 300,000 will be offered.
But don’t expect to win the 100m finals, basketball or the 100m freestyle (from 125 to 980 euros). The prices of places for the opening ceremony, on the banks of the Seine, will vary from 90 to 2,700 euros on the bottom of the quays. For the closing ceremony, at the Stade de France, it will be necessary to pay at least 45 euros for the first price tickets and up to 1,600 euros for the best seats.
The organizers of Paris 2024 claim to be within the price standards of previous editions and, in particular, that they are no more expensive than in London in 2012.
During the first phase, almost 13% of tickets were sold at a price of 24 euros, 70% at less than 100 euros and 4.5% at more than 200 euros. Ticketing revenue should bring in nearly 1.4 billion euros out of an overall budget of 4.4 billion euros for the organizing committee.
If you are still not drawn, but you absolutely want to be a spectator of the Olympic Games, do not panic. Because a third phase of sales should open by the end of 2023 and until 2024. And here, no draw: the sale will be done “over the water, according to the principle of first come first served, ”assures the Cojop. There should be more than three million tickets left after the second phase of sales.
Then, a fourth phase will begin in the spring. It will be allowed to buyers who wish to resell their place, “at the face value of the tickets”, assure the organizers, who recall that auctions will not be authorized.
Nathalie Péchalat, deputy president of Club France, also told L’Équipe that access to the Grande Halle de la Villette, where the athletes’ celebrations will take place, will not be free.
In addition to the opening ceremony, it will be possible to attend certain events without having to spend a single euro. These include the marathon – with a highly symbolic route –, walking, road cycling, rowing, open water swimming – which will take place directly in the Seine – as well as the triathlon . Please note, however, that access to the finish of these events will be reserved for visitors with paid tickets.
The public will also be welcome for the sailing events, which will take place at the Marseille Marina, and the surfing events, based in Tahiti.
You will also have the opportunity to go to Club France, in the Parc de la Villette, in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, to follow the Olympic events on a giant screen, free of charge.
