Sports are an important part of Montpellier’s culture. MHSC, MHB, MHR, BLMA, MUC Barracudas Baseball, MHSC VB… For many years, Montpellier has been the only city in France, other than Paris, to be represented in elite divisions by numerous team sports. The area is a true producer of champions. Examples include Alexis and Félix Lebrun, Kevin Meyer, the Nikola brothers and Luka Karabatic, Anastasiia Kirpichnikova, Rénelle Lamotte, and Titouan Galea.
However, this success is also the result of a strong proactive approach. While the city of Montpellier and Montpellier Métropole actively support top-level sports, they are also a driving force behind amateur and neighborhood sports throughout the area.
The Montpellier metropolitan area is recognized as one of the sports capitals of France. Major national and international sporting events are held locally every year. Recently, the WTT 2024 Montpellier Championship table tennis tournament was held on October 22-27 at the Sud de France Arena, where local star Felix Lebrun was crowned champion.
Soon after, on December 21, Montpellier welcomed the Judo Champions League at the FDI Stadium, with a brand-new format, featuring a mixed team event for the first time. Montpellier is present and active on all fronts, especially in the swimming pools. After hosting the French Elite small pool championships (25 meters) from October 31 to November 3, Montpellier will host the French Elite large pool championships (50 meters) from June 14 to 19, 2025, where four-time Olympic champion Léon Marchand is expected to compete. In addition, Montpellier will renew its ties with the Tour de France by welcoming the 16th stage in 2025.
As part of its strategy to increase its appeal and outreach, Montpellier regularly hosts events for sports enthusiasts and thrill-seekers. Since it was first held in Palavas-les-Flots in 1997, the International Festival of Extreme Sports (FISE) has been drawing the general public to Montpellier for its intense urban sports activities since 2007. Every year, this major event attracts over 500,000 spectators to the banks of the Lez River, along with more than 400 of the world’s best riders. A major event in freestyle culture, FISE ranks as France’s 3rd most-attended sporting event, after the Tour de France and Vendée Globe.
After the previous edition in 2016, Montpellier is proud to once again welcome the Tour de France on July 21 (a rest day) and 22, in 2025, for the start of the 16th stage towards Mont Ventoux.
This international sporting event, whose effect on the Montpellier area in terms of both media coverage and economic impact, adds to the sporting extravaganza enjoyed by local residents.
At the same time, Montpellier is a melting pot of innovative companies. Its ecosystem of sportech companies has continued to grow over the years, notably thanks to the assistance that some of them receive or have received from Montpellier BIC, one of the world’s Top 5 public business incubators (UBI Global 2019) and AD’OCC, the agency dedicated to unlocking economic potential.
These fast-growing startups contribute actively to the area’s employment and economic development. Recent success in raising funds has been demonstrated by Kinvent, specializing in connected solutions for functional rehabilitation and performance (16M€), Vogo (1), specializing in audio and video solutions for spectators and professionals (4.25M€), BeatHealth , creator of an ecosystem of rhythm-based applications for assessing and training rhythmic abilities (€1.7M), and also Wheere (€11M), a specialist in geolocation that deployed its solutions at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Wheere is not the only company that was involved in the Olympic Games. Majestee X equipped the Senegalese delegations, including those of the Paralympic Games; and the Olympic BMX Park was designed by Montpellier-based Hurricane Parks, a subsidiary of Hurricane Group, organizer of the FISE event. In addition, WeMap won the France 2030 call for innovative companies in the sports economy.
Last but not least, Montpellier is home to Private Sport Shop, a major sporting goods supplier, as well as the Groupement d’employeurs Sport et Loisirs Méditerranée (Mediterranean Sports and Leisure Employers’ Group), and the headquarters of Asics France. The local sports industry has proven itself to be diverse and highly varied. That is why Montpellier Métropole is examining its economic potential and considering how it can complement the already-identified key sectors of Global Health alongside MedVallée, renewable energies, Cultural and Creative Industries, and digital technology.
- Vogo was selected as the winner for innovation and technological solutions at the Maison de la Mutualité in Paris, during Global Sports Week 2024
Passage of the Olympic flame, a few figures
Montpellier was a stopover city for the Olympic and Paralympic torches. The first came through on May 13, 2024, the second on August 25. Marking both events, free programs open to all were planned to celebrate sports in a festive atmosphere. Two days of public festivities were organized, with tributes to the Olympic Games, athletes, and local sports stakeholders. To see the Olympic flame, 60,000 people flocked to the route between Millau, Sète, and Montpellier and to various ceremonial sites, including Montpellier’s Esplanade de l’Europe plaza, where the Olympic cauldron was set ablaze in front of 10,000 onlookers. More than 6,000 spectators watched the second flame as it passed by.
