All bets are off

THe Paris games will be officially opened in a few weeks' time. an aolympiad with pharaonic budgets that have economic implications well before the start of the games.

The race is on

>The Olympic flame has been lit and has been travelling around France since the beginning of May. Nearly 11,000 people will have the honour of carrying the flame to Paris on 26 July 2024. They will pass the baton to the 10,500 athletes competing at 39 competition venues, from Paris to Tahiti.

13 million tickets have been sold and 4 billion television viewers will be watching the many events in the 28 Olympic sports. 45,000 volunteers will be on hand to help the organisers. 26,000 accredited media personnel, 40,000 meals a day served in the athletes' village. The figures are staggering. So to, the economic implications.

A race to organise commenced when the Games were awarded on the 13^th of September 2017. More than 180,000 jobs were quickly mobilised to build the facilities, organise the event and receive the delegations and spectators.

Jobs at the 2024 olympics

It is the organisation and tourism sectors that benefit most from the Olympic event in terms of employment.

In financial terms, the ‘organisation’ sector accounts for almost half of the economic impact estimated by the Organising Committee. The central scenario anticipates 4 billion in economic spin-offs, mainly before the event. Uncertainty remains, however, which is why low and high scenarios are outlined.

Estimated economic impact of the paris 2024 olympic games

Very expensive olympics

The budget for Paris 2024 is more than EUR 8 billion. Nearly 40% of this is financed by private funds, 22% by the IOC and 22% by French public funds. Ticket sales and merchandising account for only 18% of the projected budget.

Provisional budget for Paris 2024

The budget for Paris 2024 is more than EUR 8 billion. Nearly 40% of this is financed by private funds, 22% by the IOC and 22% by French public funds. Ticket sales and merchandising account for only 18% of the projected budget.

TV broadcasting rights received by the IOC (EUR million)

The budget prepared by the French committee is lower than for previous editions. The use of stadiums that are already operational (Stade de France, Roland Garros, etc.) will enable substantial savings to be made. Of course, this has not always been the case.

For the time being, the 2008 Beijing Olympics remain the Games of exuberance, with over 30 billion euros spent, far more than the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and its meagre 3 billion...

Costs of the Summer Olympics (USD billion)

The cost of the Winter Olympics is naturally lower given the size of the event and the number of athletes, which is lower than that of the Summer Olympics. This is obviously not to be compared with the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where the entire infrastructure was built from scratch.

Cost of the Winter Olympics (USD billion)

On your marks, get set, go !

The Olympics are a real showcase for the country organising them. Preparation lasts around 8 years, with two previous Olympiads enabling the objectives and means of achieving them to be put in place for the athletes and federations. China, for example, increased its medal count by 70% between the previous Olympiad (Sydney 2000, Olympic Games - 2) and its current Olympiad.

China's Olympic medal haul

This phenomenon has been observed in all the nations that have organised the Olympic Games since 2000, including China, Great Britain, Brazil and Japan.

Performance of host countries in terms of number of medals

Performance of host countries in terms of number of medals

That leaves France, which has performed slightly differently over the last two Olympiads. If France's objective is to do as well as its predecessors, i.e. +63% on average over 3 Olympiads, it will have to aim for 69 medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Olympic performances can also affect the financial markets. The companies involved in organising the event or building the venues generally benefit from upstream financial investment. This is shown by the performance of the iEdge Sport & Sponsor index, created especially for the Paris Olympics and comprising 20 European equities benefiting from the forthcoming sporting event (tourism, sponsorship, sales of goods, etc.). There was clear outperformance over the pre-Olympics period compared with the corresponding index. But past performance is no guarantee of future performance...

Indice iEdge Sport & Sponsors EW et Euro Stoxx 50

Citius, Altius, Fortius

From Pierre de Coubertin's ’the importance is in the participating’, the Olympic Games have grown to gigantic proportions in the space of a century, true to the Olympic motto: ‘faster, higher, stronger’. Pharaonic budgets, athletes' performance as the driving force behind national pride, the Olympic Games are a reflection of our society, its changes and its tensions.  The boycotts of Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 are testament to the Cold War. Tokyo 2020 bore the brunt of Covid and Munich 1976 will remain the symbol of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Let's hope that the current war in Israel does not do the same for Paris 2024 and that these Games are... joyful! And may the best team win!