Billions of €urolympics rain on the Eiffel Tower

  press review | July 18, 2024

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Forbes - 18.07.2024

The countdown has started: after Euro 2024 and the Copa America 2024, which captured the attention of all football fans and beyond, the world of sport is ready to take back the scene and adorn this rich summer with another sensational event. After all, it would be the greatest: the Olympics, which after the first exhibition in 1900 and subsequently from the second in 1924, so now, 100 years later, are making Paris shine again for the third time.

To the full advantage of Paris which has been celebrating since Rome withdrew from its bid to host the 2024 Olympics: a deployment of energy and economic resources, from the creation of many jobs, to the urban planning project implemented and the impact that this event will have on the lives of Parisians, the lot of money that revolves around the event represents the opportunity to put a hand to infrastructures and historical sites that experience a condition of neglect often sedimented due to lack of funds for renovation and maintenance.

2024 Olympics: an unparalleled turnover for Paris

Taking place from Friday 26 July to Sunday 11 August, the 2024 Olympics, as well as seeing the presence of some of the greatest (and also richest) athletes from all over the world, obviously looking for the long-awaited and dreamed of gold medal, they also represent an economic and social opportunity for France and in particular for Paris and for the region where they will be held: Île-de-France.

Going into detail, as highlighted by the study released by the Center de Droit et d'Economie du Sport (CDES) - carried out at the joint request of the International Olympic Committee - the Paris 2024 Olympics will have an economic impact of minimum 6.7 billion and maximum 11.7 billion euros. Figures to which is added a third scenario, defined as intermediate by the study, of almost 9 billion euros (8.9 billion euros). “It is important to specify that the updated study evaluates the economic impact for the Île-de-France region (it is therefore not the national economic impact) and covers the entire life cycle of the event composed of a preparation (2018/2023), a development phase (2024) and a legacy phase (2025/2034), a total period of 17 years”, highlights the report.

The Paris 2024 medals were designed by Philippe Starck

Project conceived by Philippe Starck for the Paris 2024 Olympics medal which is making headlines. For the first time, in fact, a personal recognition has been exceptionally proposed to be shared with whoever you want, literally dismantling it into several parts. In fact, this medal can be, and this is where its peculiarity lies, physically "decomposed": a method that allows the winning athlete to share the constituent portions with people who are well liked or important to his Olympic success. Starck himself clarified the idea behind the project, stating that the winner will be able to take his medal, separate it and share it, giving life to three other medals to give to his chosen ones as a testimony of this great day and this great moment of overcoming one's limits.

An innovative idea that distances itself from the classic individualistic and private vision of victory.

Economic Investment

For the 2024 Olympic Games, Paris already had 95% of the structures necessary to host the event and is now preparing for the event by creating a spectacular demonstration of grandeur.

More than 3 billion euros have been invested for these Olympics in an urban project which presents, on the one hand, the refurbishment of existing structures and, on the other, the creation of some temporary sites in strategic points of the megalopolis. The masterplan entrusted to the Popolous architecture studio and the group of engineers from the Egis studio in agreement with the Paris 2024 promoting committee, have identified 38 sites around the city that could be used for the Olympic and Paralympic games. On the one hand, existing and fully functional sports sites will be used, such as those already created for the 1998 World Cup and the 2016 European Championships, on the other, integration of new facilities scattered around the city, without forgetting the suburbs that they will host the Olympic village and a large press center for journalists from all over the world.

Paris 2024 will not be content with acting as an inanimate stage to highlight sport, but rather aims to play a leading role with sporting events placed as a corollary to the glorification of its beauty. It is on the magnificence of Paris that the project was built. With the exception of the Olympic village which stands on the Île-Saint-Denis, in the Parisian suburbs, the rest of the sports facilities are all located close to the symbolic monuments of the city. The aim is to transform some of the most famous sites on the planet into a breathtaking setting for the sporting event broadcast worldwide. Thus: the Grand Palais will host the fencing championships, while in the Champs de Mars, the gardens around the Eiffel Tower, there are courts for volleyball and beach volleyball matches. Between the Grand Palais and Les Invalides, which houses Napoleon's tomb, a floating athletics track is set up with breathtaking views of the Parisian skyline and the Eiffel Tower. Part of the money was invested to reclaim the Seine and make it suitable for swimming so as to be able to host both rowing and cross-country swimming championships. The Castle of Versailles will host the horse riding competitions while the Bercy Arena will host the basketball and judo matches. A continuous huge advertising spot, for Paris and France, designed to enter the homes of one and a half billion spectators around the planet for a month 24 hours a day with an image return in terms of satellite activities for enormous tourism.

The impact of the Olympics on the lives of the French

With the 2024 Olympics, France has already won, in fact it is a "victory for the community and an event of unprecedented scope which will also guarantee the city billions of euros in the future which will be invested not only in the event but above all to improve liveability for Parisians" . Because if it is true that the Olympic Games represent an advertising spot without equal, it is also true that what matters, at the end of the fair, is what remains of all this in the daily lives of the inhabitants. And it is in particular the aspect of eco-sustainability that is close to Parisians' hearts, the Seine is now suitable for swimming for the benefit of the entire population, there is a cycle path along the entire perimeter of the center and an area for electric cars in all neighborhoods. In view of the enormous flows linked to the Olympics and Paralympics, the French metro stations have been modernized and made accessible also for disabled people through structural works to break down architectural barriers.

The impact of tourism

Now, taking the intermediate scenario as a reference, the study highlights that the impact is distributed in three main sectors: that linked to the organization of the Olympics themselves (i.e. the expenses incurred by the organizing committee for the realization of the Games, which amount to 3, 8 billion euros (42%), that linked to tourism, i.e. the spending of visitors arriving in the Île-de-France, which amounts to 2.7 billion euros (30%). impact linked to the constructions necessary for the Games (investments made which were not directly necessary were excluded) which amounts to 2.5 billion euros (28%).

The context

Even if it may seem like a significant figure, however, as highlighted by the CDES, two important factors must be analysed: the first concerns the territory and the reference context, in fact we must not forget that "the Parisian region is already the one that creates the greatest wealth in France”, just think that the GDP of the Paris region is equivalent to about a third of the GDP of the whole of France;

the second concerns a period of 17 years, including both the preparation phase (2018-2023), the preparation phase (2024) and the post phase (2025-2034), it would therefore be wrong to compare the economic impact of the Games Paris 2024 on a single year of GDP for the French Region, therefore the analysis concludes that these 17 years of GDP should instead be calculated and compared.

A veiled and obligatory special thanks from France should be given to Italy, with Rome as a candidate for the 2024 Olympics, which until its withdrawal from the competition was considered a winner compared to Paris. Thanks to the 2024 Olympics, Paris will continue to earn billions with a renewed and even more attractive city for France and for tourists who will make Parisian activities happy.