Paris 2024 promises “Games Wide Open” but will they also be under budget?

On Wednesday the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Coordination Commission held an in-person and virtual meeting with the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as the main topic.

The Paris 2024 Olympics are set to open in less than two years on July 26, 2024 and while preparations for the Games are “right on track,” there are concerns about the escalating cost of the Games with two years still to go.

IOC Coordination Commission Chair Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant said, “It’s very encouraging to see all the great work being done by the team in Paris. We are right on track and excitement is continuing to grow, not only in France but also among thousands of athletes around the world who are competing to qualify for these Games.”

Excitement is certainly growing as many sports are well into qualifying competitions ahead of Paris 2024, but there is also worry in France about the rising bottom line.

In 2018, an initial budget of 6.8 billion Euros was announced by the French government for the Games, now the price tag is about 8.3 billion Euros. Bloomberg said the final cost could be much higher due to increases in security and construction costs.

“No country has been left unscathed by inflation,” said Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet during the press conference Wednesday.

“We have a budget that has been met up until now, but we are going to have to think outside the box and be flexible so we can optimize the costs.”

Estanguet said each Paris 2024 department has been asked to draw up savings ideas in the coming weeks, to aid more formal financing planning.

Paris 2024 Chief Executive Etienne Thobois said less private transport like courtesy cars would be available, and also cutting rental times of facilities as much as possible would be some ways they will trim the budget.

“We talk about marginal gains and we’ll use those to balance out the budget. The target is to look at each expenditure to make suggestions to optimize and cut costs,” he said.

Another way Paris 2024 can recoup costs is through corporate sponsorship but recent reports suggest they might be lagging behind in that regard. They are currently at risk of not meeting a 1.1 billion Euro revenue target.

So far 20 domestic partners have been confirmed and Thobois explained to the IOC more are in the works, with hopes of finalizing 80 percent of partnerships by the end of the year.