Achieving a balanced budget on December 12, the date of the next Paris 2024 CA… This is the ambition of the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (Cojo), launched several months ago in a vast budget review, as in 2020, so that a final review will take place six months before the event.
A priori, the Cojo's budget (3.97 billion euros to date) should be increased by 10% and “stay balanced”.
"We remain within normal proportions of project development," said Étienne Thobois, managing director of the organizing committee.
The budget of the Olympic Structures Delivery Company is 3.66 billion euros.
Read also “Paris 2024, fears about the Games”: why the budget for the Olympic Games is that of all dangers
€400 million in additional expenditure, half of which is linked to inflation
As soon as its budget was drawn up in 2018, the organizing committee reasoned in “euros 2024″.
It was however without counting on a galloping inflation which forced the organizers to tighten the screw.
Around €200 million will be needed to compensate for the “inflation effect”.
To date, the Cojo, "which continues to work on this budget", does not reveal precise figures.
Additional expenditure will however concern the development of the project and in particular the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on the Seine announced at the end of 2021 and which is more ambitious and therefore more expensive.
“We also had a certain number of expenses, such as cybersecurity, which were undervalued and on which we put additional resources”, underlines Étienne Thobois.
Certain “threshold effects” or “scarcity”, noted during calls for tenders, have also had an effect on certain costs, “particularly in terms of energy.
Finally, the Cojo had to include in its budget redeployment leave, which is required of any organizing committee with more than 1,000 employees.
Maintain ambition at all costs
As part of its budget review, the Organizing Committee specifies that the challenge is to maintain the ambition, "and in particular the major markers that make up the identity of Paris 2024": the "iconic" sites (the Concorde for urban sports, Versailles for horse-riding, the Grand Palais for fencing, for example), the ceremonies, the marathon for all, the course of which has been revealed, and the Paralympic ambition.
"The budget revision will allow us to preserve what will be the strength of Paris 2024", assures Michaël Aloïsio, spokesperson for the Cojo.
Paris 2024 aimed to reach 80% of its “partnership revenue (1.1 billion euros)” envelope by the end of the year.
It's done, with the signature of Danone, a tier 2 partner.
in the coming weeks, the 90% of income, ”we explain to the Cojo.
Advanced negotiations exist in particular with LVMH (
owner of Parisian-Today in France
).
Discussions with the IOC to reduce the note
The organizing committee explains that it has "challenged the specifications which have historically been built on standardized peaks" and wishes to move to a "more real site usage model".
Work has thus been initiated with the International Olympic Committee, the real boss of the Olympic Games.
Paris 2024 has notably reworked its ticketing assumptions, with larger spectator gauges and therefore additional ticketing revenue (1.26 billion euros were initially planned).
"We are working hand in hand with the IOC in order to make the Games more agile", specifies Étienne Thobois.
The organizers thus go into the details, site by site, in order to optimize in particular the availability of the competition sites and their opening hours, which will make it possible to save energy, rental costs, guarding, security and personnel.
The idea is also to limit the surfaces of the sites to the real needs, the levels of service, to pool transport (50% fewer buses than in 2012, during the London Olympics).
The dates of use of the training sites will also be reduced, again to reduce the costs (security, personnel).
“What lives in us is the hunt for waste, we are on a very fine job”, assures Paris 2024. The State could also bear certain expenses, in connection with its public policies.
"As long as the work continues (until December 12), there is no confirmed commitment from the State," said the Ministry of Sports, the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Subjects were raised concerning inheritance and in particular sports equipment.
The State is also looking at the track concerning the fight against doping.
Some equipment may be of interest to the State.
As long as the balance is not found, we look at what can be done.
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