A glimpse of the LDLC Arena in its Olympic configuration.
« I want to keep the entire ice rink in Nice and we are doing everything we can to make that happen. "Present to the press on Wednesday, Renaud Muselier stayed the course. Yet, men's ice hockey seems to be drifting further and further away from the French Riviera city." In a spirit of frugality and budget optimization ", the organizing committee of the French Alps 2030 made the decision itself to broaden its investigations by studying the mobilization of existing equipment in other major metropolitan areas such as Lyon or Paris "Both cities offer guarantees and present different advantages."
Paris, the ticket sales argument?
Paris left an indelible mark on the world in 2024 by hosting perhaps the finest Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in history. With Orly and Roissy airports, it also boasts two ideal gateways for international travelers. However, the difference will likely lie elsewhere. Like Lyon, it will have a major test with the 2028 World Championships, which significantly reduces the risk of any mishaps for the 2030 Olympic Games. Paris can distinguish itself in one key area: the capacity of the Accor Arena.
In its ice rink configuration, it will be able to accommodate approximately 13.800 people during the World Championships. That's more than Lyon's LDLC Arena. And that's no small detail: ice hockey represents about 60% of the Winter Games' ticket revenue. It's therefore crucial to have a venue capable of accommodating the maximum number of spectators. By comparison, the Arena Santagiulia drew up to 11.500 fans simultaneously in February – the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Luc Tardif, regretted that the capacity hadn't lived up to initial promises. On paper, Paris would therefore offer more guarantees in terms of revenue. A compelling argument, given the limited financial flexibility of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee (COJOP) for these Games.
Lyon, the regional argument
In a way, Lyon is already part of the Games map, since the Organizing Committee's headquarters are located in Décines-Charpieu. With its airport and rail links, the capital of the Gauls is a natural gateway to the mountain venues of the Alps. Choosing Lyon would avoid fragmenting the map of venues, especially since speed skating will already be relocated to the Netherlands or Turin. The coherence of the "French Alps 2030" brand would thus be preserved.
« We meet all the specifications without any difficulty, including the required minimum capacity of 10.000 gross seats., said Alexandre Aulas, president of Thrillstage (the company operating the LDLC Arena), during a press conference last Wednesday. Our site is very accessible, is already certified for ice hockey, we are ideally located at the gateway to the Alps, and we fit perfectly into the overall Alpes 2030 project to limit its carbon footprint. We are the most obvious candidate. »
The president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Fabrice Pannecoucke, subtly marked his territory on Thursday during a press conference in Marseille. This is a bid from the French Alps. If my geography is correct, Paris is not part of it. " he reiterated, making it clear that Lyon would be a much more relevant option in his eyes. But there could be others.
According to Renaud Muselier, the COJOP will also contact Marseille, Gap, Grenoble and Albertville to gauge the situation and to see if they can respond to this consultation within an extraordinarily short timeframe Regarding the schedule, the president of the Southern region announced that there were up to early June to get feedback from the different regions and to find out if they meet the level of requirements set by the IOC The COJOP is not yet finished with the technical and financial assessments.
