Organisers of the Paris 2024 Olympics have begun to slash the ticket prices for some events in an attempt to increase turnout for the games.
This summer’s Olympics are already well underway but it has been noted that in several big events there have been plenty of empty seats in the stadia.
Part of this has been attributed to the coordinated arson attacks on the eve of the games which ‘paralysed’ France’s rail network and delayed hundreds of thousands of supporters from getting to Paris.
But there has also been heavy criticism of the expensive prices of tickets to watch ‘the greatest show on earth’, with many costing hundreds of pounds.
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Now, according to the Daily Mail, organisers have begun to lower prices for the athletics, football, basketball, rugby and handball events taking place from now to throughout next week.
Some football tickets will now cost as little as €15 (£12), which comes after the women’s match between Germany and Australia in Marseille was attended by under 10,000 fans despite the stadium having a capacity of 67,000.
‘Obviously, a stadium that is for me the most beautiful in France, it’s a bit sad to see it so empty,’ the deputy sports director of Marseille Sebastien Jibrayel told RMC as he advocated for cheaper tickets.
‘We had another match with 8,000 people in a stadium that can hold 67,000. France achieved a real success with a sold-out stadium and after that, we had three matches without exceeding 10,000 people.
‘It’s a proposal. I say to Paris 2024: is there not a possibility of reducing the price of tickets in Marseille? Today, it is a bit high.
‘A €60 package for families is not accessible to everyone. When we have an empty stadium, we have to make it a win-win situation and reduce the price of the seats. Between €5 and €10.
‘What I want is for the image of France and Marseille to resonate in the most beautiful way. And today, when we have empty stadiums, and not just in Marseille, I think there has to be a proposal.
‘Some people want to take part in the Olympic Games, in the party, and are ready to pay a few euros. It would be an opportunity for some to come to the Stade Vélodrome for the first time.’
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