France facing glut of unwanted Olympics tickets – FT
The number of unwanted Paris Olympics tickets available for resale has hit more than a quarter of a million amid lack of demand just days before Friday’s opening ceremony, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
The newspaper’s analysis of the official resale site showed that the number of listings jumped to 270,465 on Monday, up from about 180,000 a month ago.
According to the report, the most expensive offers on the resale site are for the opening ceremony, with the best seats priced at €2,970 ($3,222).
Poor secondary market demand for expensive seats has raised concerns that many athletes will compete against a backdrop of empty seats, the newspaper wrote.
Sports fans planning to attend the summer games were reportedly obliged to buy blocks of tickets for three separate events during the first wave of sales. Organizers said any unwanted tickets could then be resold through the official channel.
However, a lack of demand in the secondary market has left many holding tickets they cannot sell, while organizers have continued to release more tickets. Unwanted seats must be resold at face value, FT wrote.
“There are so many athletics tickets on the resale platform,” a Reddit forum user has reportedly complained, adding “I’m feeling bummed that I might be stuck with (good!) tickets. At this point it’s a sunk cost.”
The President of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tony Estanguet, said on Sunday there were still hundreds of thousands of unsold tickets available, in addition to those listed on the official resale site. He noted, however, that a record 8.8 million tickets had been already sold.
According to FT, fans can still buy tickets for marquee events such as the men’s 100 meters final, starting at €295 per person with a restricted view, with the price rising to €980 for Category A seats. Around 4,000 tickets, beginning at €900, are still available for Friday night’s opening ceremony, the newspaper wrote.
Over 80,000 of the ticket resale offers listed are reportedly for football matches, which will be played at stadiums across France.
The 2024 Olympic Games will be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11. The opening ceremony on Friday is expected to feature 3,000 dancers, musicians, and actors performing along the banks of the River Seine. It will be the first time the inauguration of the games takes place outside of a stadium.
