{"id":42573,"date":"2024-05-04T07:56:25","date_gmt":"2024-05-04T07:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/?p=42573"},"modified":"2024-05-04T07:56:26","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T07:56:26","slug":"super-rich-spending-up-to-500000-on-exclusive-paris-olympics-packages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/2024\/05\/04\/super-rich-spending-up-to-500000-on-exclusive-paris-olympics-packages\/","title":{"rendered":"Super-rich spending up to $500,000 on exclusive Paris Olympics packages"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Members of the global super-rich are spending as much as $500,000 (\u00a3400,000) on \u201cultra-exclusive\u201d packages for the\u00a0Paris\u00a02024 Olympics that promoters claim include meeting athletes, access to the athletes\u2019 village and \u201cthe chance to be part of the opening ceremony\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GR8 Experience, an \u201cinternational experience agency\u201d part-owned by the business manager of the basketball star\u00a0LeBron James\u00a0and the PR manager of the tennis player Rafael Nadal, is selling Olympic packages that it claims include tickets to 14 events such as the men\u2019s 100m finals and the opening ceremony for $381,600.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the so-called category A tickets, the agency claims it can arrange \u201cmoney-can\u2019t-buy experiences\u201d including meet-and-greets with athletes, tours of restricted areas such as the athletes\u2019 village, private after-hours access to the Louvre and a \u201cking\u2019s dinner at the Palace of Versailles\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barnabas Carrega, the chief executive of GR8 Experience, told the Guardian that his company was offering the super-rich \u201caccess that is not available to the public, including time with athletes\u201d. He declined to name which athletes he had signed up, but said he had previously arranged private events with Nadal and fellow tennis star Novak Djokovic, and the former Italian Olympic skier Giorgio Rocca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the Olympics there are a couple of tennis players,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd a number of athletes in different sports, but I am not able to name specific athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
GR8\u2019s sales document was sent to ultra-high net worth individuals Photograph: supplied<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Asked about the cost of the meetings, he said it would \u201cdepend on the structure of the meeting\u201d, which he said varied from \u201c15 minutes taking photos and a quick chat to others that are much more engaged \u2026 spending lunch\u201d. The price, he said, ranged from $25,000 to $500,000 \u201cif we\u2019re talking about one of the best athletes spending a lot of time\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrega said he was \u201cvery selective\u201d about which athletes his company worked with and said some might not provide the experience customers were looking for. \u201cSome athletes with a huge name, but [might] not have the charisma needed for the clients, others provide a true experience,\u201d he said. \u201cThey [the athletes] need to seem like they want to be there, not saying \u2018hi\u2019 but then in five minutes it\u2019s obvious they want to get away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He claimed that in the past his company \u2013 which is part owned by James\u2019s business partner and manager, Maverick Carter, and Nadal\u2019s PR manager, Benito Perez-Barbadillo \u2013 had arranged for a client to spend almost a week with Nadal including watching a game from the player\u2019s box, and for another client to play a match against Djokovic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
GR8 promises tickets with unobstructed views of the athletes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carrega also claimed that he could sell access to be \u201cpart of the Olympic ceremony\u201d. While the Olympics\u2019 official corporate hospitality partner, On Location, offers\u00a0\u201cRiverside Gold Package\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>tickets to watch the opening ceremony for \u20ac7,500(\u00a35,980), before tax, along the Seine, Carrega said he was able to provide access \u201cinside the Trocad\u00e9ro\u201d where the main part of the ceremony will take place overlooking the Eiffel Tower. \u201cYou cannot buy this. You have to utilise your relationship with the athletes\u2019 families and the [country] delegations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he had six to eight spaces available for the opening ceremony that would cost about $25,000 each, and had already sold some to a long-term client with ultra-high net worth. \u201cObviously at this price point you have to be a very qualified person to want to spend that money,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is the money-can\u2019t-buy access, the inaccessible level to something very, very unique and special.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
GR8 says the document gives \u2018a range of anticipated ticket costs\u2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Paris 2024 organising committee said On Location was the only \u201cofficial and exclusive hospitality provider for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny entity selling ticket-inclusive hospitality packages, which is not an official sub-distributor of On Location, is doing so unlawfully,\u201d it said in a statement. \u201cAccess to the athletes\u2019 village or to participate in the Opening Ceremony is not ticketed and authorised only to those with a valid accreditation. Anyone accessing the village or the opening ceremony will be subject to multiple security checks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesperson said anyone buying tickets or hospitality packages outside the official channels \u201cruns the risk that tickets or packages are not delivered to them or the access will be denied by the Paris 2024 organising committee in accordance with the terms and conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Location said: \u201cAny unofficial third parties reselling hospitality tickets and packages are doing so against Paris 2024 and On Location terms and conditions and likely acting against local laws. Most importantly, they are jeopardising the experience for fans, as resold tickets and packages are being identified for cancellation as part of an extensive enforcement programme being rolled out ahead of the Paris Games.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GR8 is promoting the tickets in a detailed document sent to ultra-high net worth individuals, seen by the Guardian. When asked for more details a spokesperson for the agency said: \u201cNo, GR8 does not sell Olympics tickets. As On Location mentioned, they are not an official ticket seller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn-site, because of the calibre of their clientele (existing ticket holders\/buyers with exclusive rights) and GR8\u2019s connections, they are able to facilitate meet-and-greets of key athletes. They sell and facilitate experiences around Olympic events, eg stays at the most exclusive hotels, VIP transportation, private cultural visitations and exclusive culinary experiences all around the sporting event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe screenshot you reference is part of this information deck created by GR8 for a specific family who inquired about going to Paris. GR8 lists an estimated budget for the entire experience, which includes a range of anticipated ticket costs \u2013 customary for all its itineraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen a prospective client decides to proceed with a given itinerary, GR8 connects them with an official reseller to obtain any necessary tickets. Note that the deck states: \u2018No bookings have been made at the present time; we will provide final numbers upon availability and client\u2019s final approval.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Members of the global super-rich are spending as much as $500,000 (\u00a3400,000) on \u201cultra-exclusive\u201d packages for the\u00a0Paris\u00a02024 Olympics that promoters claim include meeting athletes, access to the athletes\u2019 village and \u201cthe chance to be part of the opening ceremony\u201d. GR8 Experience, an \u201cinternational experience agency\u201d part-owned by the business manager of the basketball star\u00a0LeBron James\u00a0and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":42574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,3295],"tags":[4836,6734,5249,7568,8924,10391,10191,4815,6778,6738,5455,9026,5575,7090,5918,11716,5403,10954,9259,12329,3449,12207,12485,12791,8126,9833,12309,5612,589,11385,1707,12727,1253,11432,13256,12123,12103,6989,5807,5655,1502,5538,12524,10220,999,10943,594],"class_list":["post-42573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","category-world-sport","tag-access","tag-basketball","tag-budget","tag-cancellation","tag-chance","tag-declined","tag-djokovic","tag-eiffel-tower","tag-engaged","tag-families","tag-family","tag-fans","tag-france","tag-games","tag-gold","tag-hospitality","tag-hotels","tag-international","tag-italian","tag-laws","tag-lebron-james","tag-louvre","tag-lunch","tag-manager","tag-match","tag-meeting","tag-men","tag-money","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-olympic","tag-olympics","tag-package","tag-paris","tag-paris-2024","tag-players","tag-pr","tag-price","tag-rafael-nadal","tag-risk","tag-security","tag-tax","tag-tennis","tag-ticket","tag-transportation","tag-vip","tag-watch","tag-who"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42573"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42575,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42573\/revisions\/42575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}