The crowd was there for the first day of the men's tournament at the Olympic Games in Villeneuve-d'Ascq. That's an understatement when you look at the numbers. The least-watched match was Canada – Greece with 26,421 spectators, while 26,766 were there to support France against Brazil and then 27,328 people to watch Team USA win against Serbia.
“Unbelievable, 27,000… I looked around and saw so many NBA jerseys in the stands”, commented Kevin Durant. “It was phenomenal. Hearing the fans during the national anthem. I was nervous, for sure. The tension was there. Playing in front of that many people, it was a different atmosphere.”continues LeBron James.
In total, 161,518 people filled the stands of the Pierre Mauroy stadium on Saturday and Sunday for the men's matches, an average of 26,920 per match and 98.4% attendance. And the women's tournament was also appreciated, with 27,021 people coming to see Spain – China or 15,324 for Serbia – Puerto Rico on Saturday.
More than a million spectators for basketball in Paris?
With numbers like that to start with, the record for attendance at the Olympics basketball could fall. It dates back to Atlanta in 1996, when more than a million spectators (1,068,032 to be exact) attended the 92 games of the men's and women's tournaments in the SuperDome.
While the 2024 Games will only have 52 matches, how is it possible to beat this record? Because if the Pierre Mauroy stadium is filled every time or almost (27,360 seats) during the 36 matches organized in Lille, then we will have 984,960 spectators, before joining Paris for the rest.
The sixteen matches of the final phase, men's and women's once again, will be played at Bercy and if the attendance can go up to 13,300 spectators on average, then we will add 212,800 people to the total in Lille. So, if we take out the calculator, this gives: 984,960 + 212,800 = 1,197,760.
So there is even a little room to beat the Atlanta record. Will it fall? Answer in less than two weeks.
