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- Paris 2024’s initial budget was €6.8bn in 2018
- Price tag set to rise due to security plans and greater construction costs
The cost of hosting the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is likely to increase further from the current price tag of €8.3 billion (US$8.4 billion), according to Bloomberg.
The event’s initial budget was set at €6.8 billion (US$6.9 billion) in 2018, but the French government has since raised that to €8.3 billion, which includes facilities and organisation.
However, Bloomberg reports the final cost is likely to increase further as France enhances the Games’ security and faces higher than planned costs for construction and materials.
Notably, the government’s plan to have as many as 11,000 police agents on the ground per day, and up to 25,000 security agents, to avoid a repeat of the chaos at May’s Uefa Champions League final, is set to add to the event’s budget which could also be affected by rising inflation.
Bloomberg notes that France is currently battling with inflation that hit 6.5 per cent last month, thought the eurozone’s second-biggest economy has fared better than others due to president Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to mitigate rising energy costs.
In an attempt to deal with the mounting costs, the Paris 2024 local organising committee is reportedly aiming to increase resources from sponsors such as Orange and BNP Paribas. The former’s involvement will see the global telecommunications firm part with €144 million (US$146 million), according to Le Parisien.
The government expects that state and public authorities will contribute around €1.7 billion (US$1.73 billion) to the cost. There are no plans to increase planned ticket prices.
In November 2020, Paris 2024 organisers released a new venue masterplan for the event as part of ongoing efforts to cut costs by €400 million (US$406 million).
In June of that year, organisers took further steps to rework their delivery strategy as part of ongoing efforts to cut costs in the wake of Covid-19.
That came after Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet revealed a month earlier that the organising committee was looking to adapt its plan for the Games in response to the financial impact of the pandemic, identifying transport, accommodation and human resources as areas that could be cut back to save “millions of euros”.
The final cost of the Tokyo 2020 Games came to JP¥1.4 trillion (US$13 billion at the time). This equated to US$10.4 billion at today’s rate, with the yen at a 24-year low against the dollar.
