Record-breaking crowds turned out at the Paris Olympics to watch the Team USA men and women on their roads to gold.
One day after Steph Curry put on a historic shooting performance to lead the American men to their fifth straight gold medal over host France on Saturday, A’ja Wilson spearheaded the U.S. women to their eighth straight gold against France on Sunday.
A total of 1,078,319 fans attended the Women’s and Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournaments, shattering the previous record of 1,068,032 spectators set at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, where the final games were held in the expansive SuperDome with a capacity of over 30,000, according to FIBA.
The Paris Olympics achieved this remarkable milestone despite hosting only 52 games – 40 fewer than the previous format used in Atlanta 28 years ago. This resulted in an average attendance of 20,737 per game, with near parity between the Men’s games (21,711) and Women’s games (19,763).
Bery Arena in Paris was almost sold out at all games.
The crowds at Lille’s Pierre Mauroy Stadium set the tone impressively during the opening nine days of games. Fans showed their national colors with pride, giving their heroes reasons to fight.
A totalof 876,686 fans attended the 36 men’s and women’s games at the converted football arena in Lille, filling 91.8 percent of its capacity.
The 18 men’s games drew 466,053 fans, averaging 25,983 per game, which is 94.6% of the 27,360-seat capacity. The 18 women’s games attracted 410,633 fans, averaging 22,813 per game, or 83.4 % of capacity.
This event set a new standard for the women’s game with a record for a women’s basketball game in Europe. The games in group play eclipsed anything that had come before in Europe.
The record for a women’s game now stands at 27,193 and was achieved during the very last game in Lille between host nation France and Australia.
Paris’ Bercy Arena has a 13,000-seat capacity. Every game at Bercy was played with a minimum attendance of between 11,852 and 12,454 for a total of 201,633.
Also, the seven days of action at the 3×3 basketball tournament at Place de la Concorde were sold out, with 4,000 spectators per session, resulting in a total attendance of 72,000. This was the first time 3×3 could play at the Olympics in front of a live attendance.
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.
