Paris Olympics: Seb Coe raises alarm over ticket prices
World Athletics President Seb Coe has raised a red flag over the high cost of tickets for the summer Olympics in Paris expressing fears that fans are being priced out of attending the game. He feared that could result to what he called ‘unacceptable’ empty seats at the athletics.
Tickets for a session at the Stade de France are being listed for as much as £850 on the official Paris 2024 website. The cheapest remaining tickets for an evening are £170, while even mid-range category seats are priced at £330.
World Athletics president Coe has now raised his concerns about costs to Paris organisers, insisting a full stadium should be a ‘prerequisite’ for the No1 Olympic sport.
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‘We have made the point that these prices are lumpy,’ said Coe, who chaired the organising committee for London 2012. ‘These are going to be the most expensive ticket prices in an athletics arena that we have witnessed at an Olympic Games.
Coe fears high ticket prices may drive spectators
‘There are difficult balances for any organising committee. It is not easy. I have done that job. But if I am wearing my World Athletics hat, I don’t want fans being costed out of the stadium, and I certainly don’t want athletes and their families being costed out of the stadium.
Coe wants to ensure there are no empty seats when the likes of Katarina Johnson-Thompson (left) and Josh Kerr (right) take to the track next year
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‘There are always going to be premium tickets, but it is important that our stadiums are full of people that love our sport, not people that can afford to get to an Olympics.’
Coe is worried that poor crowds in Paris would tarnish the image of the sport so soon after the success of August’s World Championships in Budapest, where there was a full stadium every night.
‘No sport, our sport, cannot afford to look marginal in big championships,’ he said. ‘It really is unacceptable.
‘I don’t want people to think that Budapest was a one-off. This is the new standard. Full stadia are absolutely a prerequisite.’