Brits buy more Paris 2024 Olympics tickets than any other overseas nation
Great Britain is leading the way for ticket purchases outside of France ahead of next year’s Paris 2024 Olympics.
The French capital will host the iconic multi-sport extravaganza for the first time in 100 years in what is also set to be the first Olympiad since the Covid-19 pandemic.
It also marks a return to Europe more than a decade on from London 2012, spurring a flurry of interest from British sporting fans, who have snapped up more tickets than any other nation other than the hosts.
“The memories from 2012 are still around and we kind of piggyback on that,” Etienne Thobois, chief executive of Paris 2024, told City PM
“The first phase [of ticket sales] has been fantastically encouraging. We’ve got more than 158 countries represented in the buyers.
“We believe that there is a high expectation, as always, with the Olympics in particular disciplines but the very good surprise was to see that in events less popular in France, like hockey or water polo, [tickets] went very quickly.
“The only question is the football tournament, which drives a lot of matches in a pretty constrained time frame.
“We’ve chosen to take the biggest venues in France so there’s a football challenge but we are confident with the women’s tournament and with people like [Kylian] Mbappe connected with the Games, it’s also a fantastic opportunity to bring the games out of Paris.”
But while organisers say ticket sales are flying, it is currently uncertain as to whether Russian and Belarusian athletes will be able to compete in the next Olympics.
Since Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, aided by Belarus, Russia and its neighbour have been banned from competing under their flags in international sporting competition.
And while some sporting federations are beginning to allow the participation of athletes due to the timeframe ahead of the Olympics, there are still a number of nations – including the UK – calling for Paris 2024 to exclude Russians and Belarusians.
But that doesn’t appear to be deterring fans for those countries from buying tickets.
“The [ticketing] platform is open to everyone,” Thobois added. “We are definitely not controlling the nationalities of the people that come into the ballot.
“No matter their nationality or where they live, for us there’s no blockage.
“The question is much more whether there will be Russian or Belarusian athletes, but that’s not for us to decide.”
The first phase of sales saw 3.5m tickets purchased, two thirds by domestic customers. Registration for the second phase, which includes individual tickets and some of the most sought-after finals, ends on 20 April.
The Olympics begin in July 2024 and run through until mid-August.
For more information visit tickets.paris2024.org.