Everyone understands, even the least knowledgeable: the Olympic Games cost money. The OCOG Paris 2024 budget, established at 4,38 billion euros in its latest version, does not deny this. It has swelled and swelled since the event was awarded to the French capital by the IOC in September 2017. But without ever exploding. In itself, a form of performance having gone through a health crisis and a dizzying surge in inflation.
So it costs. But, a reality less commonly accepted, especially by those who are not very knowledgeable, the Olympic Games also bring money. Before, during, and even after.
The OCOG and the IOC have combined their forces and resources to provide a numerical illustration, less than 80 days before the opening. They commissioned a study from the Centre de Droit et d'Economie du Sport (CDES) in Limoges on the economic impact of the Paris 2024 Games. Understand, “net injection », c’est à dire l’activité économique créée par l’événement olympique et paralympique, qui n’aurait pas existée sans les Jeux de Paris 2024.
It was unveiled on Tuesday May 14 at a press conference, the day after its presentation to the media. Clarification: the study only concerns the Ile-de-France region. But it runs over a period of 17 years, between the first turns of the wheel of the OCOG, at the beginning of 2018, and the year 2034, the announced end of the so-called legacy period of the Games.
By relying on already existing data – OCOG expenditure, award of contracts by the OCOG and SOLIDEO, construction, etc. – and by anticipating others – tourist expenditure during and after the Games – the study carried out by the CDES delivers of an almost round figure: 8,990 billion euros. The economic impact of the Paris 2024 Games in Ile-de-France, between 2018 and 2034.
The first study of its kind certified by the IOC, and intended to serve as a model in terms of methodology for the future Games, it also proposes a pessimistic scenario, the low estimate, and a more optimistic vision, the high range. They stand at 6,70 and 11,14 billion euros respectively.
In detail, it turns out that the thickest part of the cake (84%) concerns the first two stages of the Paris 2024 rocket, namely the preparation phase (2018-2023), and that of the holding of the Olympic Games. and Paralympics (2024). The legacy, these ten years during which the echo of the event will still resonate in the Ile-de-France region, weighs significantly less, only 16% of the economic impact.
Another reality demonstrated by the study: organizational expenses (42%) and construction (28%) represent more than two thirds of the economic impact of the Games. They have, for the most part, already left the coffers of the COJO and SOLIDEO. Tourism revenue (30%) remains to come, at least for the most part. They are therefore still uncertain.
Other figures to remember, very instructive as to the reality of the economic benefits of the Games in Ile-de-France:
– 89% of the COJO's revenue comes from outside Ile-de-France, but 75% of its expenses are made in the region.
– 80% of the infrastructure linked to the Games ultimately comes from outside Ile-de-France, but 76% of expenses are made in the region.
– Revenues from tourism, still only forecast, are estimated at 1,9 billion euros. They will be partly brought by a non-French clientele, with foreign spectators expected to represent 36% of the audience for the Olympic Games (and 17% of that for the Paralympic Games).
Nine billion euros, therefore, of economic impact for Ile-de-France according to the average scenario. A good number? A record for the Olympic Games? Difficult to answer. Christophe Lepetit, head of studies and partnerships at CDES Limoges, explains: “It is unfortunately not possible to compare the result of this study with past editions of the Olympic Games, or with another major sporting event organized in France, because until then there was no standard methodology for calculating the economic impact. »
A new study, commissioned by the French state, will look, starting next year, at the broader impact of the Paris 2024 Games, in Ile-de-France but also across the country. It will calculate the revenue, but also the impact of the event on sporting activity.
