French Law Bans Alcohol Sales at Paris 2024 Olympics

Fans in the stands won't be able to enjoy a drink — but some VIP guests will.

Spectators at the Paris 2024 Olympics won’t be able to have a beer while they watch badminton, or sip a gin and tonic during the gymnastics competitions — at least not if they’re just “regular” spectators. A law that has been on the books in France for over 30 years puts significant restrictions on the sale of alcohol in the sports stadiums and other venues where Olympic events will be held next summer, and the Games’ organizers won’t be asking for any kind of exemptions.

Evin’s Law went into effect in 1991, and limits the marketing and advertising of alcohol and tobacco products. It also means that alcohol of any kind can’t be sold to the general public inside stadiums during sporting events. (As Yahoo Sports notes, even competitions sponsored by booze companies are rebranded when they’re being held in France: most notably, the Heineken Champions Cup rugby competition is known as the H Cup when it takes place within the country.)

Each event organizer can apply for an exemption from Evin’s Law for 10 events per year, per municipality — but the sheer size and scale of the Olympics makes that impossible. "Paris 2024 will be organizing more than 700 competition sessions over 15 days of competition," a Paris 2024 spokesperson told Reuters. “It is not for Paris 2024 to comment on this application of different laws, but for the legislator to define the relevant framework for event organizers.”

But — and this is a big, expensive but — there are exceptions for VIP suites inside stadiums and arenas. "It is the strict application of French law that allows catering services that include the provision of alcohol to operate in hospitality areas as they are governed by a separate law on catering," the spokesperson explained.

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That means that anyone in the VIP sections can have alcoholic beverages as they watch the events, but those drinks won’t be cheap. Le Parisien reported that some hospitality sections offer glasses of champagne on each spectator’s arrival and will serve spirits, wine, and beer at the bar, however a single ticket for one event could cost well over four figures. Entry into the Stade de France lounge for the men’s 100m Final, for example, will cost €4,900 ($5,350) per person.

The organizers of previous Summer Olympics have allowed their crowds to drink up, as Heineken was on-tap for London 2012, and Skol, a popular lager in Brazil, was served in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Booze wasn’t going to be sold in Tokyo in 2021 but, due to the pandemic, the Games eventually proceeded without spectators, so no one was around to complain.

The Rugby World Cup will be held in France in September and October of this year, but organizers for that event have been granted an exemption, so those crowds will be able to raise a glass (or 10) to their teams. “We cannot imagine a Rugby World Cup without beer in the stadiums,” Jacques Rivoal, the chairman of the Rugby World Cup, said earlier this year.

Even if we won’t be anywhere near the Olympics action in person next summer, we will be on our couch with a cold beer — and that sounds pretty good, too.

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