An ice rink, chalets for tasting tartiflettes or waffles, decorated Christmas trees, a Santa Claus sitting in front of his sleigh: under the transparent tent set up at the foot of the Boulogne stand, the first PSG Christmas market has been a great success since its opening on November 19.
Until December 18, ten days before the reception of Strasbourg for the resumption of the championship, the participants in the visit of the Park, the Stadium Tour, which are up to 3,000 per day, will be able to access this space of 750m2.
Nicolas Arndt, head of ticketing, hospitality and non-match activities at the Parc des Princes, takes a look at the giant screen and the message "Happy Holidays" written on it.
On the sidelines of a news event marked by questions around the future of the Park, with a skirmish between Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and the City of Paris,
Today, we have the impression that filling the Park is done by itself…
(he cuts) No…
How complicated is it then?
It's a long-term job, in particular to retain our subscribers (36,000 today) who are the foundation on which we rely.
We arrived fairly quickly around 2014-2015 to play almost all of our sold-out matches over the season, but visually the stadium was anything but full.
So we thought about how to sell 47,000 tickets and have 47,000 people present.
All while helping to develop revenues, while also listening to our customers who cannot be there for all the matches and who want to be able to easily lend their place or resell it.
We also offer the possibility of donating to the Foundation, in one click.
In some matches, we have up to 500 seats which thus benefit children and their families who would not otherwise have the means to go to the stadium.
And since the summer of 2017,
which coincides with the arrivals of Neymar and Mbappé, the Park is sold out.
Against Auxerre, November 13, it was the 101st consecutive time.
Is it a complicated commitment to keep over time to keep low prices for subscriptions, especially in Auteuil?
No, it's not a complicated one to hold.
It's not a commitment either.
We tell ourselves that for our fans who push the club on home games, it is not completely funny to maintain the same price for 6 or 7 years, as it will undoubtedly be the case again next season.
Does that make sense?
Yes, yes that makes sense.
As it makes sense to maintain the Junior Club offer.
We could have said to ourselves: these are 800 or 900 places to recover to generate three times more money.
But no.
We also want to keep an area dedicated to families and children.
The two zones in Boulogne, where on certain matches it is 12 or 15 euros per ticket, the same.
We were all children and the first step in a stadium at 6, 7 or 10 years old is always a fantastic moment.
So we don't really want to cut ourselves off from these things.
The Stadium Tour is also another way to open the doors of our stadium for families who can't find tickets and who want to please their child.
But yes, we are still torn between the colossal demand that exists behind the club and a reduced volume of tickets available.
And the bigger the game,
PSG takes advantage of the truce to set up its first Christmas market at the Park, to be visited as part of the Stadium Tour pic.twitter.com/a2G3BKmX6w
— The Parisian |
PSG (@le_Parisien_PSG) December 7, 2022
Has the Park become too small?
Should we leave to grow as some believe?
So on that I'm going to paraphrase the president but option #1 is to stay at the Park.
So.
The other options today are beyond my control.
Based on the observation that we have played sold out for 101 games: yes, we have the potential to have a bigger stadium.
Behind, we are on the technique to know what is the best gauge, the best capacity.
But mechanically who says bigger stadium, probably says more seats at a slightly lower price.
Today, we have 6,200 in Virage Auteuil at €17 per match.
On a stadium at 60,000, we might have 8, 9 or 10,000 at that price.
It would make more people happy.
Without being able to regulate on all the matches what we see today.
But this is the case at all events in the world where demand is strong.
But are you continuing to invest in improving public reception?
Yes.
Obviously, in the renovation of the Park, a strong focus was placed on the players' areas to offer them better comfort and contribute to performance.
Hospitalities were built to finance these heavy investments.
And we redid the toilets, changed the seats, offered additional services, and we continue.
Here again, we are in the process of modernizing the entire level 2 of the Tribune Paris.
All of our audiences are important and we try to help their experience and comfort evolve.
Unfortunately, we are cramped so offering more space in his seat to each spectator is not possible today.
In some hospitality spaces, having more square meters per person is also complicated.
In certain corridors, on level 3 in the Tribune Paris,
we know that at half-time the density is extremely high.
So tomorrow is also one of our challenges: improving the small points so that the experience is even more enjoyable.
It remains difficult to find places and prices are soaring on Ticketplace, the club's resale platform...
Demand being increasingly strong, the percentage of people wanting a place who obtain one is less and less high.
But, as I have already mentioned, we have not changed the price of our subscribers in Auteuil because we know that they push the team at home, that they invest their time to animate the stadium or follow the team on the move, we have kept our Junior Club zones, the volumes in these zones are the same as 5 years ago.
But the demand is much stronger so the impression of inaccessibility of tickets is becoming stronger and stronger.
As for Ticketplace, we use it for reasons of security and all that that brings.
Without it, the subject of resale would also exist but would generate many more problems.
Afterwards, the stadium is still 48,000.
That's why we're thinking about ways to serve a few more people in the future.
Hoping to get there!
