The Paris 2024 Games are already history, but life goes on. For the host cities, the adventure will continue. It will be different, probably less global, but not necessarily less exciting.
The association Territoires d'Événements Sportifs (TES), created for the Rugby World Cup in 2023, extended for the Paris 2024 Games, could have ended its short history with the end of the Olympic and Paralympic event. But its elected representatives unanimously wanted to continue the experiment.
Antoine Chinès, the general delegate from TES, explains: “ After the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and the Paris 2024 Games, the association had to think about its sustainability and its model. The members worked for a year on what they wanted to do. They made the choice to stay together and continue what has been accomplished over the past three years."
A strategic plan has been developed for the period 2025/2027. It will be formally adopted on December 5 at a TES's board of directors meeting in Lille by TES. In the sights, three years where it will be a question of putting into music the legacy of the Paris 2024 Games and preparing the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps. With, an uncertain milestone already underlined with a thick line, the municipal elections in 2026, a political deadline that will not be without impact on the governance of the association.
Question: How to maintain a collective project for host cities without a global event on the horizon? Not easy. TES members worked patiently on the file, to finally determine two directions to follow.
The first remains on familiar ground. For its new life, the association intends to preserve the DNA of major sporting events. On the menu, the legacy of the Paris 2024 Games, the prospect of the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps, but also a watch on the major upcoming events, by broadening the spectrum of disciplines and sports concerned.
Second direction: professional sport. "The idea is to work on the interactions between cities and their professional clubs, mainly in Ligue 1 (soccer) and in Top 14 (rugby), to try to progress in relations between communities, leagues and clubs », explains Antoine Chinès.
Mathieu Hanotin, the mayor of Saint-Denis and president of TES, continues: “ Our 2025/2027 strategic plan must enable French communities to optimize their relations with professional sport to make it a strong lever for living together, inclusion, attractiveness and economy, while taking into consideration the issues of social responsibility and environmental."
To achieve this, the association will have to expand its walls. Next year, in the form of voluntary membership, it will add a new battalion of communities with a professional club in Ligue 2023 and/or Top 2024to the host cities of the Rugby World Cup in 1 and the Paris Games in 14.
Objective: to become an essential contact for professional leagues and clubs, to promote investments by cities and regions, and to influence standards and investments in stadiums to for promote their sustainability. With always the same line of conduct: becoming better together.
