FIBA Basketball

    Thank you Lille, now Paris, it's up to you

    3 min to read
    The crowds in Lille were very impressive

    The fans came out in Lille, leaving the tournaments on pace to break the all-time attendance record. Can Paris come through and snap the 1996 Olympics record?

    PARIS (France) - Spectators in Lille held up their end of the bargain, now it is up to fans in Paris to see if the Olympic Basketball Tournaments Paris 2024 can break the all-time Olympics attendance record.

    The crowds at Lille's Pierre Mauroy Stadium were absolutely breathtaking, and thanks to them, the Olympic Basketball Tournaments Paris 2024 are still on pace to eclipse the mark from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics - even though there are 40 fewer games in France.

    A total of 876,686 spectators showed up for the 36 men's and women's game at the converted football arena in Lille - that is 91.8 percent of capacity. A total of 466,053 fans showed up for the 18 men's games for an average of 25,983 or 94.6 percent of the 27,360 capacity. The 18 women's games drew 410,633 fans for an average of 22,813 or 83.4 percent of capacity.

    With the men's game flourishing as strong as before, the 2024 Olympics has confirmed the world's growing love for the women's game, extending from the record-breaking crowds at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 in Sydney.

    The final game of the group stage - basketball's farewell from Lille if you will - saw 27,193 fans show up for hosts France's women's showdown against Australia. That set yet another record for biggest attendance for women's basketball in Europe.

    Record crowds for women's games in Europe

    Rank

    Event

    Venue

    Game

    Attendance

    1

    Paris 2024, Group Phase

    Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille

    Australia vs France (08.04.24)

    27,193

    2

    Paris 2024, Group Phase

    Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille

    Canada vs Nigeria (08.04.24)

    27,107

    3

    Paris 2024, Group Phase

    Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille

    Spain vs China (07.27.24)

    27,021

    4

    Paris 2024, Group Phase

    Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille

    China vs Puerto Rico (08.03.24)

    26,595

    -

    Paris 2024, Group Phase

    Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille

    Serbia vs Spain (08.03.24)

    26,595

    The Olympics Basketball Tournaments shift from Lille to the Bercy Arena in Paris, and the all-time Olympics attendance record is well within reach.

    At Atlanta 1996, a total of 1,068,032 spectators attended the 92 men's and women's basketball games with the Final Phase in the huge SuperDome and its over 30,000 capacity.

    The 2024 Olympics include only 52 games, showing just how unprecedented the support in Lille was.

    There are 16 games remaining at the Bercy Arena, which has a capacity of 13,000 spectators for a total of 208,000 possible fans. Paris 2024 remain 191,346 fans short of breaking the 28-year-old record.

    An average of 11,960 fans or 92.0 percent capacity must show up for the 16 games for Paris to take over the all-time mark.

    Attendances for Men's games at 2024 Olympics

    Date

    Game

    Attendence

    July 27

    AUS vs ESP

    26,991

    July 27

    GER vs JPN

    26,991

    July 27

    FRA vs BRA

    26,766

    July 27

    GRE vs CAN

    26,421

    July 28

    SSD vs PUR

    27,021

    July 28

    USA vs SRB

    27,328

    July 30

    ESP vs GRE

    26,980

    July 30

    CAN vs AUS

    26,980

    July 30

    JPN vs FRA

    26,900

    July 30

    BRA vs GER

    23,884

    July 31

    PUR vs SRB

    17,882

    July 31

    USA vs SSD

    27,056

    Aug 2

    JPN vs BRA

    26,850

    Aug 2

    AUS vs GRE

    26,850

    Aug 2

    CAN vs ESP

    26,133

    Aug 2

    FRA vs GER

    26,860

    Aug 3

    PUR vs USA

    27,244

    Aug 3

    SRB vs SSD

    20,916

    Total

     

    466,053

    Attendance figures for Women's games at 2024 Olympics

    Date

    Game

    Attendence

    July 28

    ESP vs CHN

    27,021

    July 28

    PUR vs SRB

    15,324

    July 29

    NGR vs AUS

    24,023

    July 29

    GER vs BEL

    20,211

    July 29

    CAN vs FRA

    20,211

    July 29

    USA vs JPN

    13,040

    July 31

    PUR vs ESP

    23,942

    July 31

    CHN vs SRB

    23,942

    Aug 1

    JPN vs GER

    20,962

    Aug 1

    AUS vs CAN

    20,962

    Aug 1

    FRA vs NGR

    17,483

    Aug 1

    BEL vs USA

    25,044

    Aug 3

    CHN vs PUR

    26,595

    Aug 3

    SRB vs ESP

    26,595

    Aug 4

    JPN vs BEL

    25,134

    Aug 4

    CAN vs NGR

    27,107

    Aug 4

    GER vs USA

    25,844

    Aug 4

    AUS vs FRA

    27,193

    Total

     

    410,633

    The greats of the game were amazed by the crowds in Lille.

    "Incredible, man! 27,000... I looked around and I've seen so many different NBA jerseys in the stands. I just love when the game of basketball could bring people from all over the world together like that," USA superstar Kevin Durant after the team's win over Serbia game.

    That highly-anticipated drew 27,328 fans - the only game that drew more fans than the final women's game between France and Australia.

    And after playing in front of 27,021 fans in the first women's game of the tournament against China, Spain superstar Alba Torrens said: "It was an amazing atmosphere. You could feel the public having fun and us as well. This connection with the fans makes everything more meaningful. We are grateful to have this opportunity to play in front of this crowd."

    To those in Paris, Lille did their job to set the record, now it's your turn to bring it home.

    Here is a look at the attendance marks after two days of games

    Paris 2024 is chasing the All-time olympic basketball tournaments attendance record

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