Louis is 23 years old and has the summer ahead of him to go to the Olympics. The problem is that the young man doesn’t have a place yet. Drawn too late, it clashed with price and availability. “Too expensive, too little… It wasn’t worth it,” he explains. So, he was a little disappointed and reluctantly appeared this Wednesday at the D-100 Olympic Games on the ticket sales site, in the last stage of sales: “I don’t expect much. This is just in case, but I would be remiss if I didn’t try. After all, these are Games! »
So this morning we followed him to his computer station, half operational, the ticket page open since 7am. “I try to give myself every chance,” he smiles. In any case, we had to wait 10 hours to hope to gain access to the precious sesame. At 9:59 the moment of truth arrives: Louis is put on the waiting list.
Quarter hour queue
“The official Paris 2024 ticket office is very enthusiastic. Thank you for your patience,” the page reads. Wait, yes, but for how long? “He didn’t mark my place there. What is this? “, asks a young Internet user. A simple blue loading bar moves forward, but very slowly. Besides the computer, Louis tries his luck on the phone, but the line seems even longer. So we had to wait more than a quarter of an hour. The time he spent imagining possible scenarios.
“They said: half the seats are 100 euros. This is very good. Honestly, I’ll take it for that price,” he assures. A little over sixteen minutes have passed and it’s time to waste no time choosing your seat. Otherwise prices will skyrocket.
First ticket to appear: Morocco-Argentina football for 50 euros. “But this is in Geoffroy-Guichard, in Saint-Etienne, for me this is impossible! “says the shopper, who decides to sort by city to see events in the Paris region.
“It’s the Olympics, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing in Paris, so…”
The number of tickets available seems to be there at affordable prices. Minimum 24 euros to see a little bit of everything. Ultimately, the hardest part is choosing what you want to see. But at what cost? “I want to be at the opening ceremony,” Louis exclaims, before realizing that the first available price was €900.
That possibility ruled out, Louis finally decides to concentrate on his favorite sports: football, handball, basketball, badminton… “I could turn on ping-pong, but I want to see the LeBruns or nothing,” he laughs. With a budget of 150 euros maximum per place. After some inconvenience with refreshing pages and removing search filters, Louis eventually finds a spot for the football quarter-final at the Parc des Princes on Friday 2 August for €80. “You can say that I went to the Parc des Princes after a day of work,” a satisfied buyer. With luck, he might even get to see France if Thierry Henry’s team finishes second in their group.
Finally, the next day at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle, he completed his basket with a series of quarter-finals in women’s badminton for just over sixty euros. In total, Louis will bid just over €147 for his tickets: “At the end of the day, for €150 I’m doing pretty well. It’s the Olympics, it’s a once in a lifetime experience in Paris, so hey…”
This sales phase, if it were the last of this magnitude, is however not the last opportunity to purchase tickets for Paris 2024. The resale phase, which will begin on May 15th once the special application is posted online, will allow ticket holders to place seats back on the market at their purchase price and hence those who were disappointed at various stages will get their hands on some precious tickets.
Source: Le Parisien
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have a keen interest in sports and have written for many different publications. I am currently working as an author at 24 News Recorder. I cover mostly sports news but also write about other topics such as current affairs and politics. I have a strong interest in social media and how it can be used to engage with audiences.
