Louis is 23 years old and has the summer ahead of him to go see the Olympic Games. Problem, the young man doesn’t have a place yet. Drawn too late, he was confronted with the price and availability of places. “Too expensive, too little… It wasn’t worth it,” he explains. So, it was a little disillusioned and without desire that he showed up this Wednesday on D-100 of the Olympic Games on the ticketing site, for the last phase of sales: “I don’t expect much -thing. It’s just in case, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t try. These are the Games after all! »
So we followed him this morning behind his computer station, half working, the ticketing page open since 7 a.m. “I try to give myself every chance,” he smiles. In any case, we had to wait 10 hours to hope to have access to the precious sesames. At 9:59 a.m., it’s the moment of truth, Louis is put on the waiting list.
A quarter-hour queue
“The official Paris 2024 ticket office faces strong enthusiasm. We thank you for your patience,” it is written on the page. Wait yes, but for how long? “He didn’t mark my place there. What is this matter? », asks the young Internet user. A simple blue loading bar advances, but very slowly. In addition to his computer, Louis tries his luck on his phone, but the queue seems even longer. So we had to wait more than a quarter of an hour. A time during which he imagined possible scenarios.
“They said: half of the places are 100 euros. That’s very good. Frankly, I’ll take it at that price,” he assures. After a little over sixteen minutes, the time has come to not waste a second in choosing your place. Otherwise, prices will skyrocket.
First ticket to appear: Morocco-Argentina in football for 50 euros. “But it’s in Geoffroy-Guichard, in Saint-Étienne, it’s impossible for me! », says the buyer who decides to sort by city, to go see the events in the Paris region.
“It’s the Olympics, it’s once in a lifetime in Paris so well…”
The number of tickets available seems to be there at affordable prices. 24 euros minimum to go see a bit of everything. Ultimately, the hardest part is choosing what you want to see. But at what cost ? “I want to attend the opening ceremony,” exclaims Louis, before realizing that the first available price was 900 euros.
This possibility ruled out, Louis finally decides to concentrate on his favorite sports: football, handball, basketball, badminton… “I could have put ping-pong on, but I want to see the Lebruns or nothing,” he laughs. -he. With a budget of 150 euros maximum per place. After some inconvenience of refreshing pages and deleting search filters, Louis ends up finding a place for a football quarter-final at the Parc des Princes on Friday August 2 for 80 euros. “I could say that I went to the Parc des Princes after my day of work,” the buyer is satisfied. With a little luck, he could even see France if Thierry Henry’s team finishes 2nd in their group.
He finally completed his basket with a series of women’s badminton quarter-finals the next day at the Arena Porte de La Chapelle for a little over sixty euros. In total, Louis will have staked a little more than 147 euros for his tickets: “In the end, for 150 euros I’m doing well. It’s the Olympics, it’s once in a lifetime in Paris so hey…”
This sales phase, although it was the last of this magnitude, is not, however, the last opportunity to obtain tickets for Paris 2024. The resale phase, which will begin on May 15 once the dedicated application is put online, will allow ticket holders to put places back on the market at their purchase price, and therefore those disappointed in the different phases to get their hands on some precious tickets.
