German sports fans don't have far to go to the next Olympic Games.
But the ticket prices for Paris 2024 are absurd.
This is also due to a fatal incentive for the host country.
Cologne – "Being there is everything": The motto of the Olympic Games is attributed to Pierre de Coubertin.
What the founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who died in 1937, could not have known: one must add to this sentence today.
Because nothing works without money.
Viewers must have plenty of it to be able to attend Paris 2024.
The second sales phase starts this Wednesday, in which all those who did not get tickets in the first round get a new chance at tickets.
3.25 million of ten million tickets have already been sold.
Sports fans could register via the official website, were selected by drawing lots and then had 48 hours to put together a package consisting of three events.
“The demand for tickets for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris is expected to be high.
Limited time windows for completing a purchase are apt to put consumers under pressure,” is the verdict of the Bavarian Consumer Advice Center at the request of IPPEN.MEDIA's
Munich Merkur
.
Olympic tickets: 690 euros for athletics, 180 euros for volleyball
At the heart of the criticism: the prices.
An athletics event with a medal decision costs 690 euros, a day of swimming competitions costs 230 euros and a volleyball quarter-final costs 180 euros.
According to a recent survey, four out of five French people find the tickets too expensive.
The IOC always emphasized that ten percent of the tickets would cost 24 euros.
Many ticket users saw a different reality: Usually only tickets in the two most expensive categories A and B were available and the available offer changed almost every minute.
A scam to get rid of the expensive tickets first?
"We cannot make any statements about the price level and the changing offer, since we have no insight here," writes the Bavarian consumer advice center.
"In principle, the organizer can set the price freely, as long as the limits of usury are not exceeded."
Ticket proceeds go to the host country: cash injection for the local sports landscape
Christoph Breuer is a sports economist.
At the Cologne Sport University, he conducts research on major sporting events and the question: How charitable are sports associations actually?
The fact that the Olympic tickets are so expensive only has something to do with the IOC's greed for profit.
Because: "The money from ticket sales always gets the respective organizing committee of the host country." The ticketing income would be used for the implementation.
Paris can still fall back on an existing infrastructure - unlike, for example, the World Cup in Qatar, where stadiums were only just built.
But it's about something else.
“The organizing committee is allowed to make a profit and not only has to cover the costs.
The host country can keep every euro that goes into the domestic sports landscape.
One way to keep prices down: cross-subsidization by the IOC.
“The IOC is doing very well thanks to TV revenue and sponsors.
If you would contribute more financially, the organizing committee could reduce the prices and a 100-meter final would be affordable for French youngsters – and not 'just' a preliminary decision in archery,” says Breuer.
Tickets for the Olympics in Paris: consumer center advises caution
Now the second sales phase starts.
Interested parties can register until April 20th.
From mid-May there will be a draw again.
Those who are selected have 48 hours to purchase tickets for individual events.
The consumer advice center advises: “Consumers should inform themselves and prepare in advance: Which sports and sessions would they like to attend?
How many tickets are needed?
What is the maximum amount you want to spend on it?
If one sport is no longer available or too expensive, should another be attended?”
It is also helpful to set a maximum budget.
"In addition to the tickets themselves, food, travel and accommodation costs must be taken into account - and for all areas, prices are expected to rise sharply due to the high demand," writes the European Consumer Center on its website.
The end is a third sales phase, about the procedure of which little is known.
That can also be a danger, as sports economist Breuer explains.
“There are much more drastic measures to maximize ticket revenue.
You could auction the tickets.
Or you do it like in US professional leagues, where location is determined from where you buy a ticket.
In New York you pay a lot more than in Detroit.”
