Paris 2024 Launches Charitable Ticketing Initiative To Ensure Open and Accessible Games
International Olympic Committee news
The Paris 2024 Organising Committee has launched a charitable ticketing programme that will give people living in low-income households the opportunity to experience next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Through a partnership with French charity Secours populaire, everyone who buys tickets for Paris 2024 will have the option to donate an additional two Euros to the initiative, which will be used to pay for the tickets and travel costs of beneficiaries who would not otherwise have the means to attend the Games, including families, young people, senior citizens and people with a disability.
The programme will help Paris 2024 realise its goal of making the Games open and accessible to as many people as possible, and was developed in consultation with French entrepreneur and philanthropist Alexandre Mars – a Paris 2024 ambassador and Board member.
“We want as many people as possible to be able to experience the Games and to feel the emotions and sense of togetherness that they bring,” said Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet. “To achieve this goal, Paris 2024 has launched a number of initiatives to enable people living in low-income households, who are often excluded from major sports events, to attend the Paris 2024 Games in person. This charitable ticketing scheme, which we have created in partnership with entrepreneur Alexandre Mars and the French charity Secours populaire, will help us to provide ‘Games Wide Open’ by giving the whole public the chance to play a part in this great show of solidarity.”
The charitable ticketing scheme, which will be launched when the sale of Olympic Games ticket packs opens on 15 February, will operate during every phase of the public ticketing programme.
Donations will be collected by Secours populaire, which was founded in 1945 and is dedicated to fighting poverty and discrimination in society. The charity’s work includes widening access to sport for disadvantaged children, while it has also benefited from similar charitable ticketing programmes, enabling thousands of people to attend previous major sports events.
“Secours populaire is delighted to benefit from the charitable ticketing scheme initiative,” said Thierry Robert, the charity’s National Secretary. “The scheme will offer young people and people in low-income households the chance to experience the emotions of live sport at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For 78 years, sport has constantly been a key pillar of our action to support solidarity. With your support, this solidarity initiative will give Secours populaire the resources to further act and expand its action around sport.”
As part of its ambition to open the Games to as many people as possible, Paris 2024 has already created a number of initiatives so that those who might normally miss out on major sporting and cultural events can attend the Games in person. These align with Olympic Agenda 2020 + 5’s goal of strengthening the universality of the Olympic Games.
The initiatives include the affordable ticket pricing structure, with tickets for all sports available for as little as EUR 24 for the Olympic Games and EUR 15 for the Paralympic Games, and with around 50 per cent of public tickets costing EUR 50 or less. In addition, the Organising Committee has provided direct funding for the purchase of 100,000 tickets for disadvantaged members of society, while it has also given host local authorities the opportunity to acquire one million tickets to support their social projects linked to the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Olympic Games Paris 2024 will take place from 26 July until 11 August, with the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 held between 28 August and 8 September.
