PARIS - Against all odds, the Paris Olympics have delivered.

Just a few weeks ago, the chances of a successful Games in the City of Light seemed slim. France was in a political crisis. Security officials were fearful of an attack. Many French people seemed nonplussed.

The International Olympic Committee could barely afford another miss. But as the Games draw to a close with a ceremony at the Stade de France on Sunday, those fears appear little more than historical footnotes, with Paris rejuvenating the Olympic brand.

"France surprised people," said Michael Payne, a former IOC marketing chief who has also worked with bid cities and sponsors, especially as recent Paris events such as the 2022 UEFA Champions League final had been marred by trouble.

"It worked beyond anyone's wildest dreams."

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By avoiding costly white elephants, and prioritizing temporary stadiums nestled among some of the world's most recognizable landmarks, French organizers have turned Paris into an open-air Olympic playground where everyone's invited, with or without a ticket.

As the sun rose, spectators would gather at the banks of the Seine to watch swimmers dive into the water, made just about swimmable at a cost of 1.5 billion euros ($1.64 billion).

As it set, tens of thousands of tourists thronged the Tuileries Garden, snapping selfies while the glowing Olympic cauldron began its nightly ascent into the purple-hued sky.

Payne said the success of Paris "will reboot cities' interest in bidding to host the Games". He said he had already noticed several eyeing 2036.

Los Angeles 2028

Those tasked with following Paris seem impressed.

"They have done a spectacular job," Los Angeles 2028 CEO Casey Wasserman told Reuters. "The experience in the venues, which is what this is all about for the athletes and the fans, is world class."

He said Los Angeles would not try to match Paris in style and substance but in "authenticity and execution", a view echoed by IOC President Thomas Bach.

"If LA would like to copy the Eiffel Tower, it would be a recipe for disaster," Bach said. "Each Olympic Games has to be authentic, has to be creative, has to show the culture of the host country."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass acknowledged Paris had set a high bar, and that LA's homelessness problems would be a challenge to overcome. But the City of Angels has one world class asset that nobody else can claim: "We do have Hollywood, so I expect a lot of magical opportunities," she told Reuters.

Broadcasters and sponsors are also thrilled.

NBCUniversal, which has the largest Olympic media deal in the world after paying $7.65 billion in 2014 to extend its rights through 2032, scored its highest US audience since 2012 and enjoyed record ad sales, with average total viewership for the first 14 days up 77 percent from Tokyo.

The number of viewers on Warner Bros. Discovery streaming platforms for the first two days of Paris exceeded the entire Tokyo Olympics, the company said.

The Games were Olympic sponsor Airbnb's biggest ever event in terms of guests accommodated in and around Paris, Emmanuel Marill, Airbnb's regional director for EMEA, told Reuters.

"There is a kind of magic that happened," he said.

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Dory Ellis Garfinkle, chief marketing officer at brand strategy firm Siegel+Gale, said Paris is a "comeback Olympics" for advertisers, with data showing 300 percent growth in searches for brands during the opening ceremony compared to Tokyo.

Hangover for French politics

Paris' success is a major relief for the IOC, which had been struggling to attract younger audiences needed to justify multi-billion-dollar TV and sponsorship deals.

It successfully navigated a potentially risky move to deepen product placement, with no major backlash over Samsung phones on medal podiums or Louis Vuitton suitcases during the opening ceremony. Expect more in future Games, IOC officials say.

But Paris was not faultless.

Although the worst case scenario of a militant attack was avoided, a mysterious rail and telecoms sabotage at the start of the Games remains unsolved. Some residents in Seine-Saint-Denis, France's poorest administrative department where the Olympic Village was located, said that despite organizers' efforts to bring them closer to the Games, they felt left out.

Payne said the deluge during the opening ceremony was a setback, but less damaging than the parody of Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" which upset some Catholics. He also highlighted athletes' complaints about Olympic Village food.

"But if these are your only problems, you can deal with it," he said.