“We know that the Olympic ticketing was very successful, perhaps even a little too much. », confided a few days ago, Etienne Thobois, general director of the organizing committee (Cojop) to 20 minutes. And it is an understatement to say that this ticketing in three phases with a draw has caused a lot of ink to be spilled and created great disillusionment among sports fans, who dreamed of the Games at home. However, to date, Cojop has sold some 7.2 million tickets out of the almost ten million available for next year. Who was able to win the precious keys?
West France was able to obtain a detailed inventory of the profile of buyers, where they purchased, how much they paid and for which sports. Of the 7.2 million already sold, 5.4 million have been sold to the general public, including 45% women and 53% men. Nearly two thirds were purchased from France.
Success abroad
Without too much surprise, we find sold disciplines on the podium: football in the lead, followed by athletics and basketball, sports where the available places are significant. But specifies Michaël Aloïsio, deputy general director of Cojop, at West France, “Lesser known sports like hockey or water polo are also attractive. The first phase where you had to choose three sessions for a complete pack allowed this diversification.”
Of the third of tickets purchased outside France, half were favored by the British, followed by the Americans, the Dutch and the Belgians. In France, 44.6% were purchased from Île-de-France. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Hauts-de-France follow.
38.6% of tickets sold at 50 euros or less
Finally, the vast majority of tickets sold had a price between 24 and 200 euros (89.5%), including 38.6% at 50 euros or less. “It’s always the most expensive places that remain, so it gives the impression that all those sold were, which is not at all the case,” explains Michaël Aloïsio. Indeed, currently, on the Olympic ticketing website, the remaining places have high prices: 385 euros for athletics qualifiers or 2,700 euros for the opening ceremony.
But Cojop assures it. In addition to the ticket office for the Paralympic Games which has just opened this Monday morning, new places will be reintroduced “by the end of the year”. To give a nice Christmas gift for less than 50 euros?