NBA match in Paris: for fans, "passion is priceless"

The match between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Charlotte Hornets only starts in three hours but many are already hanging around the AccorHotels Arena in Paris this Friday afternoon. "We took our precautions with the strikes, we put down the day, it was out of the question to miss this match," says Christophe, who came from Thoiry (Yvelines) with his son Mahé. It's my son's birthday present. It is important to share this moment with him. "

A gift that did not cost him too much since Christophe obtained invitations through his work in the world of advertising. “We had set 150 euros for a place but we were not selected during the first sales, when I saw the prices soar, I said to myself that it was over but I had places at the start of the week, ”continues Christophe, who also came with two friends from Caen with whom he played teenage basketball.

A black seller: "I intend to resell the triple"

Special scarf of the match around the neck, Gauthier, Maxence and Valentin spent 120 euros each to attend this historic match, the first of the regular season on French soil. “We had set the bar of 250 euros, says the thirty-something. However when we see places at 1600 euros we say that it is really anything. At that price, you might as well go directly to see them in the United States. But we are happy to be there, it is an event, there is the best team in the NBA ( Editor's note: Milwaukee Bucks, first of the Eastern Conference ) and there is Michael Jordan. "

To see "God", some are willing to pay much more. A street vendor assures us, away from the police who have come in large numbers, that he will sell his places without any problem. "I hope to sell double or triple the basic price," he says. I'm used to it and I never left with unsold places. "

A few minutes later, the interested party bought two sesames from a couple in their twenties for 200 euros. "The value of the ticket is 85 euros per unit, I plan to resell them three times," he explains. They could have sold them to me more expensive but they were in a hurry because they had other tickets and they do not know how it works. It's a business! "

They wouldn't sell their sesame for anything in the world

Zac, fifty, tries to find a place but not more than 150 euros. "Otherwise I go to a cafe and watch the game on TV," he says. "Tickets in hand, Rémy, 30, and his older brother Jacky will not sell their sesame:" not even for 3000 euros ". "I don't get up every night to watch the games on TV so I don't watch that one," said the youngest, who was number 5562 when the seats were first sold on the Internet in October. It was our passion for the NBA that brought my brother and me together. It will be our first in real life. They are memories forever. It does not have a price. "