Fill up. Not because it will be a vital financial issue for the organizers of Paris 2024, but to ensure that the flame surrounding the Paralympic Games does not go out after successful stages on a popular level. in Beijing in 2008 and in Rio in 2016, interspersed with the exceptional 2012 edition in London (Tokyo, as a reminder, will remain separate for a moment due to the health crisis which led to a closed session).
This is the stated ambition of the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (COJOP), through the voice of Michaël Aloïsio, its deputy general director, who rejects the prospect of empty or sparse bays during the competition which will take place from August 28 to September 8. “It’s less a fear than an ambition. We want to offer our athletes full stadiums. We must continue to grow this event which is completely crazy. For all those who had the chance to experience the previous editions of the Paralympic Games, these remain great sporting moments, which convey strong emotions. And this has real educational value. I almost want to say that you have to take your children to see Paralympic events to open up to what disability is and change their outlook. Thanks to these Games, I hope that we will do more for inclusion than thirty years of public policy.”
A strong ambition, which will materialize concretely this Monday, at around 10 a.m., with the opening of the ticket office for these future Paralympic Games. Which, obviously, is accompanied by its procession of figures. Thus, after having revised the gauge slightly downwards due to practical constraints, “and not for lack of ambition” reminds the organizers, 2.8 million tickets will be put on sale this October 9, for all parasports and all sessions, always with this limit of 30 tickets maximum per person (which does not take into account subsequent purchases during the Olympic Games). However, of these 2.8 million precious tickets, “only” 2.3 million will be reserved for the general public, 500,000 being intended for stakeholders, such as local authorities.
In terms of prices, the Organizing Committee wanted to avoid a new controversy, as was the case during the sales of Olympic tickets. Thus, 500,000 tickets will be sold at 15 euros, half will not exceed 25 euros and 80% will be at 50 euros or less, knowing that the maximum price will be 100 euros. Reasonable and reasoned amounts, as Michaël Aloïsio reminds us: “We have the responsibility to give value to this event. It is important for us, when we see for example the price of a cinema ticket, to promote these athletes, hence these prices which can reach 50 euros or more for certain sessions. A way, too, of respecting the work and sacrifices made by all paraathletes, while remaining within the reach of the vast majority of budgets who wish to witness their performances.
Prices that are all the more attractive as they will be accompanied by two offers. One for the family, which will consist of offering two tickets at 10 euros each for children aged 12 or under for the purchase of two adult places. The other, a Discovery Pass, will allow you to attend as many competitions as desired over one day, either on the Paris Center site – which includes armchair fencing and para taekwondo at the Grand Palais, para judo and rugby. armchair at the Champ de Mars Arena, Cécifoot at the Eiffel Tower Stadium and para archery at Les Invalides – or on that of Paris Sud with the Arena which will host boccia, goaball and para tennis table. So many disciplines that it will be possible to discover this Sunday during the Paralympic day organized at Place de la République in Paris. Or throughout the year, through initiations organized by Paris 2024.
Because very clearly, the organizing committee finds itself facing two immense challenges regarding the Paralympic Games: filling the stadiums while trying to beat the record of 2.7 million tickets sold in London in 2021 (2.1 million for Rio four years later) and promote the champions of its parasports. In the first case, as said in the preamble, the financial stakes are not major. Certainly, ticketing is supposed to represent 1.4 billion euros in the Games budget, but the 2.8 million tickets for the Paralympics will weigh significantly less than the 10 million for its Olympic counterpart, at much higher prices which more is. What Michaël Aloïsio indirectly recalled by confiding: “We also have budgetary assumptions with 80% filling of the stadiums but our ambition is for everything to be full, and we have a little less than a year to achieve this. We will rather put our energy into achieving this, rather than thinking about the consequences of not fulfilling it. The prices are affordable, the event is eminently family-friendly, the dates are ideal for those who want to take advantage of the end of the school holidays and the start of the school year itself.”
Among these 2.8 million tickets, 20,000 are for people in wheelchairs, a figure which seems low at first glance, but which was calculated according to the sales of London 2012 and Rio 2016. And which is confirmed with the sales tickets for the Olympic Games, with a quota also reserved for people with reduced mobility which still leaves many tickets free. The reason ? Not for lack of enthusiasm, as the organizers explained, but because of a fear regarding accessibility to the different sites and inside the enclosures. A fear that Paris 2024 absolutely wants to remove by ensuring that there would be no problem at this level. Just as there had been no technical problem on the platform for selling tickets for the Olympic Games, which reassures about the organizers’ ability to manage strong demand this Monday. Even if, with a smile, Michaël Aloïsio: “Now, if the computer servers have to give up because there are too many requests, in a way, even if we don’t want it, it will be more than a good sign.”
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