$500,000 costs an exclusive package for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Services included in this price

The world’s richest people can spend up to $500,000 on “ultra-exclusive” packages for the Paris 2024 Olympics, which promoters claim include meeting the athletes, access to the athletes’ village and “the chance to take part in the opening ceremony”, reports The Guardian quoted by news.ro.

GR8 Experience, an international agency partly owned by basketball star LeBron James’ manager and tennis player Rafael Nadal’s public relations manager, is selling Olympic packages it says include tickets to 14 events, such as the men’s 100m final meters and the opening ceremony, for 381,600 dollars.

In addition to the so-called Category A tickets, the agency says it can arrange “experiences you can’t buy”, including athlete meetings, tours of restricted areas such as the athletes’ village, private after-hours access program at the Louvre and a “royal dinner at the Palace of Versailles”.

Barnabas Carrega, chief executive of GR8 Experience, told The Guardian that his firm offers the super-rich “access not available to the public, including time with the athletes”. He declined to name the athletes he signed up, but said he had previously organized private events with Nadal and Novak Djokovic, another tennis star, as well as former Italian Olympic skier Giorgio Rocca.

“There are some tennis players for the Olympics,” he said. “And a number of other athletes, but I am not in a position to name them.”

Asked about the cost of the meetings, he said it “depends on the structure of the meeting”, which he said ranges from “15 minutes to take photos and have a quick chat to other more involved meetings… where you have a meal of lunch”. The price, he said, ranges from $25,000 to $500,000 “if we’re talking about one of the best athletes who spends a lot of time.”

Carrega said he is “very selective” about the athletes his company works with and said some may not provide the experience customers are looking for. “Some athletes have a huge name but may not have the charisma needed for customers, others offer a real experience,” he said. “Athletes have to look like they want to be there, not say ‘hello’ but then in five minutes it’s obvious they want to leave.”

He claimed that in the past his company – which is partly owned by James’ business partner and manager Maverick Carter and Nadal’s PR manager Benito Perez-Barbadillo – had arranged for a client to spend almost week with Nadal, including watching a match from the player’s box, and another client playing a match against Djokovic.

Carrega also stated that he could sell the access to be “part of the Olympic ceremony”. While official Olympic Games partner On Location is offering “Riverside Gold Package” tickets to watch the opening ceremony at €7,500 along the Seine, Carrega said it was able to offer access “inside the Trocadéro “, where the main part of the ceremony will take place, overlooking the Eiffel Tower. “You can’t buy this. You have to use your relationship with the athletes’ families and the delegations [ţărilor]”.

He said he has six to eight spaces available for the opening ceremony that would cost about $25,000 each and has already sold a few to a high net worth loyal customer.

The Paris 2024 Organizing Committee said On Location is the only “official and exclusive hospitality provider for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games”.

“Any entity that sells hospitality packages with ticket included, which is not an official sub-distributor of On Location, is doing so illegally,” a statement said. “Access to the athletes’ village or to participate in the opening ceremony is not ticket-based and is authorized only to those who have a valid accreditation. Any person who accesses the village or the opening ceremony will be subject to multiple security checks.”

A spokesman for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said that anyone buying tickets or hospitality packages outside official channels “runs a very high risk that their tickets or packages will not be delivered or that access will be denied by the Paris Organizing Committee 2024, in accordance with the terms and conditions”

On Location said: “Any unofficial third parties reselling tickets and hospitality packages are doing so against the Paris 2024 and On Location terms and conditions and are likely to be acting against local laws. Most importantly, they are putting the fan experience at risk because tickets and packages resold are being identified for cancellation as part of a broad enforcement program taking place ahead of the Paris Games.”

GR8 promotes the tickets in a detailed document sent to high-net-worth individuals, obtained by The Guardian. When asked for more details, a spokesperson for the agency said, “No, GR8 does not sell tickets for the Olympics. As On Location mentioned, they are not an official ticket seller. On Location, due to the caliber to their clientele (existing ticket holders/exclusive rights buyers) and GR8 connections, they are able to facilitate meetings with key athletes.They sell and facilitate experiences around the Olympic events, eg stays at the most exclusive hotels, VIP transport , private cultural visits and exclusive culinary experiences around the sports event.”

GR8 also stated that it can obtain tickets to sporting events from an authorized seller for customers who wish to see a particular event.

Publisher: DC

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