The Racing 92 rugby club will welcome, this Sunday at 4.15 p.m., the English from Northampton in the European Cup, in its Paris La Défense Arena hall. A match subject to the gauge imposed on indoor rooms, i.e. 2000 people. But it will be the last. Because from February 2, these gauges will be lifted and the Nanterre hall will once once more be able to accommodate up to 40,000 people. Its director, Bathilde Lorenzetti, breathes a sigh of relief.
We imagine that government announcements are good news…
BATHILDE LORENZETTI. It’s a big relief. I was hoping for a reduction in the system put in place in December. But I didn’t expect the gauges to lift completely. Sunday, the Racing-Northampton match will be the last in reduced gauge. Then, for the arrival of Brive on February 5, Pau on February 12 or for the concert of the Fugees on February 19, then for all the others unless the organizers wish, we will be in full gauge. In addition, from February 16, we will be able to consume standing once more so that does not pose any problems for the pits during our concerts.
Are there any health risks in bringing together the public once more without a gauge at Paris La Défense Arena?
We are doing a lot to renew the air in particular. We changed all the filters in the room two years ago, the air is renewed like in an operating theater or an airplane. This is why we regretted this gauge which did not take into account the specificities of the room. We were allowed to take the plane but not to go to our room… And we had the same constraints as a room with 2,000 seats, whereas we have 40,000. It annoyed us a little that the political meetings are not affected. We’re relieved it’s over.
How was this restriction period which will end on February 2?
This has not been easy. We evaluated the shortfall of a match with a gauge of 2000 people (as was the case for the Top 14 match once morest Clermont on January 8, editor’s note), this corresponds to a loss of more than 500,000 euros. It’s a loss at the ticket office, but also for our services in the boxes. Behind closed doors, it’s a little more loss still, it’s 700,000 euros per match. And we didn’t touch anything from the EPCR to compensate for the cancellation of the game once morest the Ospreys on December 18 when the ticket office was going well. And the match once morest Clermont, limited to 2000, also sold very well. We were certainly entitled to an extension of the right to use the PGE (loan guaranteed by the State), we also had recourse to partial unemployment in January. But either way we lost money.
