Ticketing details and competition schedules released as Paris 2024 reaches two years to go milestone

Paris 2024 revealed new details about ticketing and competition schedules ahead of the two years to go milestone on Monday. Organizers promised a revolutionary experience, underlining the innovative nature of the event through the slogan “Games Open Wide,” while touting a focus on female athletes and affordability.

Competition is set to begin two days before the opening ceremony, with preliminary matches in men’s football and rugby sevens scheduled for July 24. Sporting action will continue for 17 days before women’s basketball awards the final medals on August 11.

Urban sports will take a place under the spotlight with breaking finals scheduled during prime time on back to back evenings. Surfing finals will also begin during prime time in Paris, though they will start bright and early in Tahiti at 7AM local time.

Two more sports given prime time slots were athletics and swimming. After a flipped schedule in Tokyo, swimming will once again conduct its finals in the evening, with preliminary rounds scheduled for the morning. All athletics finals will take place in the evening as well, with the exception of road events.

However, one major change made to the athletics schedule is the order of the two marathon events. For the first time in history, women will run a day after the men on the final day of the Olympic Games. The change represents an increased focus on women’s events by the organizers.

The competition schedule was “carefully designed to strike a fair balance between the genders, with alternating men’s and women’s team sport finals” according to Paris 2024.

It was also created with input from the International Olympic Committee, Olympic Broadcasting Systems, and international sports federations. Paris 2024 hopes it will allow spectators to “live the full experience of the Games!” Of course, ticketing will play a large role in that goal.

The cheapest tickets on sale will go for €24, while the most expensive will be sold at €950. Organizers claimed nearly half of the tickets reserved for the general public will cost €50 or less, with more than 90 percent of the tickets reserved for the general public priced under €200.

Spectators will also have the option to customize ticket packages, allowing them to see three sports for as cheaply as €72 according to Paris 2024.

The full pricing structure for general public tickets will be published in December 2022, with ticket packages going on sale in February 2023.

Organizers labeled the ticket prices “extremely affordable for an event the size of the Olympic Games.” According to Paris 2024, the ticketing scheme was designed with the intention that the most highly priced tickets would generate nearly half of the ticketing revenue for the Games.

It remains to be seen if organizers will be able to fill the stands during the world’s most prominent festival of sport. However, hopes will be high that a revolutionary approach to the Games will be rewarded in two year’s time.

The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics will begin July 26, 2024 and conclude on August 11, 2024.