Paris Olympics

[Pete]

Some events are starting this morning even though the opening ceremony doesn't take place for a couple of days.

The Olympics are always great but it's fun to watch and realize this amazing international coverage will be coming to OKC in just four years.

[BoulderSooner]

Some events are starting this morning even though the opening ceremony doesn't take place for a couple of days.

The Olympics are always great but it's fun to watch and realize this amazing international coverage will be coming to OKC in just four years.

always a fun during this lull in sports before football ..

[traxx]

Reminds me of Chariots of Fire. That was the '24 Paris Olympics.

[amocore]

As much as I usually don’t care about opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics, I think the Paris one was great. It was innovative with it being in the city and not enclosed in a stadium. It was a great display of this wonderful city.
It makes me even more excited for LA 2028 and the OKC part of it.

[Pete]

Things really get going today with tons of swimming including some medal events.

[Mr. Blue Sky]

We watched the opening round of the Canoe Slalom events and the announcers laughed among themselves about how Oklahoma will host the 2028 slalom; the usual "Oklahoma is not exactly close to Los Angeles," stuff. And, LA28 needs to get a memo to NBC that it's OKC hosting these events, not "Oklahoma" -- much like they don't refer to the 2028 games being held in "California." It may take time, but surely they'll all be on the same page in a couple of years as the events get closer. Yes, I know, it's technically correct for both, but it's the city locales that is the specific and correct form of referral for both. Somebody tell NBC.

[mugofbeer]

Its a heck of a lot closer to LA than Tahiti is to Paris!

That does kind of harken back to NBC and Connie Chungs arrogance after the bombing.

[Pete]

The 2028 Olympics will be a great opportunity to educate people on OKC.

[mrdude]

The 2028 Olympics will be a great opportunity to educate people on OKC.

Stoked for this. Not only the fact of it being here, but wishfully thinking the coverage could show some skyline shots of Devon’s new LEDs and the sky dance lit up in red white & blue themes to add to that educating, since the river races won’t be at night.

Huge swimming fan and avid Olympics watcher here.

[ComeOnBenjals!]

Watched some kayaking today - huge crowd! Should be a ton of interest in the Oklahoma area. Curious to see how many fans the LA organizers expect in OKC. I would imagine not quite as many since it’s not located in the host city like it is this year. Softball should be electric.

Side note - how about SLC landing the Winter Olympics again in 2034? One of the coolest cities I’ve been too, they’re booming out there. Bet their metro infrastructure gets some more investment as part of this

[warreng88]

Watched some kayaking today - huge crowd! Should be a ton of interest in the Oklahoma area. Curious to see how many fans the LA organizers expect in OKC. I would imagine not quite as many since it’s not located in the host city like it is this year. Softball should be electric.

Side note - how about SLC landing the Winter Olympics again in 2034? One of the coolest cities I’ve been too, they’re booming out there. Bet their metro infrastructure gets some more investment as part of this

Mayor Holt said they expect 200,000 visitors for the 2028 Olympics to OKC.

[fortpatches]

Mayor Holt said they expect 200,000 visitors for the 2028 Olympics to OKC.

I thought it was 200k in ticket sales? So significantly less than 200k visitors.

[Pete]

The Women's College World Series sells over 100K tickets every year, so you'd expect similar numbers for Olympic softball, with about the same number of teams.

The Whitewater events will probably seat 10K to 20K spectators over many sessions.

So, you'd think 200,000 in ticket sales would be a good estimate and easily achievable.

[jn1780]

I thought it was 200k in ticket sales? So significantly less than 200k visitors.

200k in ticket sales sounds low?

Or are we talking about total tickets?

[fortpatches]

200k in ticket sales sounds low?

No, I just mean, ticket sales =/= visitors.
Like, if you really like canoe slalom, you might buy ~6 tickets (one for each day of the event).
Or if you want to just check out Olympic competitions, you might buy 1 for canoe slalom and 1 for women's softball or something.

In other words, 200k in ticket sales just tells us that there is a range between a minimum of 34k attendees (est. of 6 total days - assumes total overlap of events) and a maximum of 200k attendees.
Even if this was split 50/50 (I think it is more like 65/35 but I don't remember where I got that number) local vs visitor, the visitor numbers would be in the range of 17k-100k.

[traxx]

The Women's College World Series sells over 100K tickets every year, so you'd expect similar numbers for Olympic softball, with about the same number of teams.

Europ ain't SEC. It just means more.


sorry...just had to say it for a laugh

[BoulderSooner]

200k in ticket sales sounds low?

Or are we talking about total tickets?

that is the amount of tickets ..

[amocore]

I am torn on the international impact of the softball Olympic competition. It has not been Olympic in a while so it tells you not so many countries and people are into it. The USA team will be a big draw but they may be alone on this island.
I would not expect wcws type crowd.
The white waters events will be more internationally followed for sure.

[jn1780]

I am torn on the international impact of the softball Olympic competition. It has not been Olympic in a while so it tells you not so many countries and people are into it. The USA team will be a big draw but they may be alone on this island.
I would not expect wcws type crowd.
The white waters events will be more internationally followed for sure.

It was at the Tokyo games, but yeah, there is a reason why it wasn't at the 2012 and 2016 games. Other countries don't really get into the sport as much.

[Pete]

Japan is actually better than the U.S. right now in softball.

It will be a very tough competition.

[Jersey Boss]

https://www.thedp.com/article/2022/0...tch%20softball.
The vast majority of D1 players come from 1 of 2 states.

[Urbanized]

I am torn on the international impact of the softball Olympic competition. It has not been Olympic in a while so it tells you not so many countries and people are into it. The USA team will be a big draw but they may be alone on this island.
I would not expect wcws type crowd.
The white waters events will be more internationally followed for sure.

Canoe slalom will definitely attract more eyeballs during the international television broadcast; that sport is very big in Europe, especially. Even the 2026 championships, also to be hosted here, will be broadcast on prime time on the European continent. Softball will probably draw more eyeballs in the U.S. than will whitewater.

When it comes to in-person attendance, both events will sell out. Softball will very likely have single-game sessions, meaning they will turn over the stadium between games to maximize revenue and attendance opportunities for fans. It’s most likely that softball will be a six team tournament rather than the eight that play in the WCWS, though an eight team tournament will be considered. What this means is that the game portion of the event will be a snap for OKC to pull off, as it will actually be smaller than WCWS.

That said, everything OFF the field will be bigger, often MUCH bigger, as in media complement, security perimeter and demands, hospitality needs, plus fan fest components.

There are OKC City officials on the ground in Paris as I type this, and they are taking meetings, visiting with officials in media, logistics, security, hospitality and other areas, plus already getting lots of behind-the-scenes information and experience in order to bring it back and get to work on detailed planning for 2028.

[ComeOnBenjals!]

Paris has had the best crowds/settings of any Olympics I can remember. The crowds for swimming and rugby have been electric. Love hearing all of the chants and enthusiasm.

Also - their capitalization of their monuments and buildings has been great. The fencing venue is beautiful.. and the beach volleyball stadium in front of the Eiffel Tower is incredible.

[Pete]

^

It makes me wonder how Los Angeles is ever going to follow this. It's all been incredible.

[PhiAlpha]

^

It makes me wonder how Los Angeles is ever going to follow this. It's all been incredible.

No kidding! How cool was the opening ceremony centering on a boat parade and the main stadium with an Eiffel Tower laser show as the back drop (and with the Eiffel Tower as the back drop of several sports). Hell of a job by their planning committee. Videos have been VERY athletically pleasing.

Better get those Devon tower animations ready! LOL

if there was anyway that we could get the I-35 bridge at lease close to finished by then…it would be really cool.