Olympics provides boon for French businesses

Above all, the Olympics is a god-tier sports competition for the world’s best athletes. But, behind the scenes, thousands of people have been engaged in their own epic challenges to get Paris to the starting line. Chief among them, the 30,000 members of the construction industry who have worked on the stadia, Olympic Village and media centers.

In total approximately 181,000 souls worked or will work on the Paris 2024 Games, that’s almost enough to fill the city’s emblematic Parc des Princes stadium four times over, many of them in the hospitality or private security sectors.

Companies that secured tenders to work on the Olympics have had to recruit on a massive scale to be able to fulfill their contractual obligations. A closer look reveals that 88% of those companies supplying services to Paris 2024 are French and of those 79% are SMEs.

So, what do they stand to gain? The financial windfall from hosting the games is estimated to be worth between €6.7 and €11.1 billion for the greater Paris region, according to a study by CDES, a French legal and economic center specializing in sport. So, if things shake out reasonably well, that should mean an economic impact of around $9 billion. A breakdown of this figure translates to $3.8 billion related to the organization of the games themselves, $2.5 billion related to construction and $2.7 billion related to tourism.

"The financial windfall from hosting the games is estimated to be worth between €6.7 and €11.1 billion for the greater Paris region"

Not all experts agree with these estimates, however. The governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, believes that the benefits of hosting the games are more “psychological than economic”.

In any event, the Olympics allow France to showcase its savoir-faire to the world. As shop windows go, they don’t come much better, a fact that company directors understand all to well.

In no particular order, Leaders League brings you a podium of French companies that have answered the call of Paris 2024.

Decathlon

Where else to start than with Decathlon, the largest sporting goods retailer in the world? The French brand, founded in 1976, was selected to provide the uniforms worn by the 45,000 Paris 2024 volunteers who will be helping tourists find their way around the city this summer. These people need to be easily identifiable in a crowd, and the best way to do this is to have them wear in the same outfit. The company has also produced a range of officially licensed clothing and equipment.

Decathlon spent 18 months in close consultation with the artistic director of Paris 2024 in order to finalize the design of the million pieces of clothing necessary to dress the volunteers and other officials who will dedicate their time during the event.  

The whole volunteer kit and caboodle includes a bucket hat, backpack, bum-bag, tee-shirt, windbreaker, trousers that can be turned into shorts, socks and shoes. The clothing is be available in sizes XS to XXXXL. For the design of the collection, the brand drew upon classic French looks, like the marinère, which served as the inspiration for the volunteer’s tee-shirt.

Style apart, the clothing retains the utility that has become a hallmark of the firm: zips, cargo-pants pockets, mesh netting, breathable, UV protecting material. Speaking of which, the garments are made from eco-friendly material over half of which originates in France.   

Other than decking out the volunteers and torch-bearers, Decathlon is organizing shows and meetings with special guests during the games. Furthermore, Decathlon will hope its own range of Paris 2024 tie-ins bring in a tidy profit, for a group whose revenue reached €15.6 billion in 2023.

Loxam

Sporting occasions are a windfall for a lot of companies, and Loxam, the European leaders in the rental of professional material, is certainly among them. Loxam won two big contracts for the games, and for the past three years has been working on fulfilling them.

Alongside GL Events, the Breton company will provide electricity generators, air-conditioning, and temperature control equipment at 53 olympic sites, including 31 competition venues. Lead technicians, logistics planners, foremen, project engineers… in all 160 people are on site to ensure the readiness and reliability of the above installations when the curtain rises on Paris 2024. The company is no novice at this sort of thing, having supplied equipment to other high-profile sporting events, such as French Opens and the Rugby World Cup.

The second contract relates to the supply of temporary prefabs and portacabins at 26 locations, notably at Trocadero, Place de la Concorde, the Chateau de Versailles as well as at stadium sites. Ticket booths, drug-testing centers, temporary canteens, toilets... thousands of prefabricated units designed to complement existing facilities will be seen all over the city of Paris this August, in order for the games to be able to host every event, athlete and visitor.

Among the key projects, are the International Broadcast Center at Bourget airport to the north of Paris where stations transmitting the games will set up their TV temporary studios. Despite the size of the task at hand, the opportunities that the games provide Loxam are well worth the effort expended for a company that posted turnover of €2.6 billion in 2023. New experiences and working methods, recruitment of complementary staff, links forged or strengthened with other companies… each time it works on an event like the Olympics, the firm’s expertise is enhanced, putting Loxam in pole position to secure more big-ticket work in the future.  

Sodexo Live!

A catering company specializing in major sporting events, Sodexo Live! will have the mammoth task of serving 40,000 meals per day to athletes at the Olympic Village. It will also provide food options in the VIP areas, for fans in the arenas and for those working at the Olympics.

The Cité du cinéma film studio in Saint Denis has flipped its script for Paris 2024, from what the French refer to as the 7th art – film – to the culinary arts. This summer, this 220-meter long 23,000 sq meter hall will transform into France’s biggest canteen, providing continual meal service to 15,000 Olympians and Paralympians. As befits the global capital of cuisine, this will be no ordinary cafeteria. The space is divided into various rooms, each dedicated to a different type of ethnic food, including Asian, Afro-Caribbean and French.  

For those athletes tempted to take a French gastronomic adventure, at the entry to the main hall there is be a space dedicated to haute cuisine, presided over by chefs Charles Guilloy, Stéphane Chicheri, Akrame Benallal, Amandine Chaignot and Alexandre Mazzia, who will offer many of the signature dishes from their own restaurants.

Around 800 sq meters of cold storage has been installed in the basement of the Cité du cinema, to which Sodexo Live! Was handed the keys in January. Managing the flow of people and foodstuff is a colossal logistical challenge. Add to that the 500 meals that have been conceived over the past two years in conjunction with nutritionists, chefs and national delegations which will be available to athletes from 200 countries 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To ensure it delivers, Sodexo Live! has recruited and trained 6,000 staff over the past two years. Other than supplying meals at the Olympic Village, Sodexo Live! is also in charge of providing food for athletes, staff and spectators at the 14 Olympic venues (eight for the Paralympics).

The Olympics should burnish the reputation of a company that has already been entrusted to handle catering at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium and Goodison Park in Liverpool, not to mention during the French Open tennis and the Tour de France.