Travel and Logistics in Sport

Professional sport is played at domestic and international stages, some sports travel country to country for each competition. But what are the factors that need to be considered by athletes? How much work goes into planning logistics of sporting equipment and travel of players?

Logistics are defined as ‘the detailed activity of organising and implementing transportation of equipment for commercial purposes.’ But what does it mean in the case of sport? Well, as we all know professional sport is played at domestic and international levels. Individual players and teams must travel wherever the next competition is going to take place and transportation of their sporting goods and equipment will come under logistics. However, it is not just travel few players and some of their equipment. Logistics and travel in sport includes travel of  player and staff, anywhere from an individual athlete to a team of hundreds, and organising transportation for their sporting goods and other essential equipment all over the world. Therefore, just like the sport itself logistics and travel need careful planning.

For professional athletes, a calendar must be prepared with all the dates of the competitions at the start of the year so that they can plan their travel. Most of the planning of travel and other important details is done by their managers and agencies. Same is the case with team sports with small number of players. For example, tennis players travel all over the world to participate in tournaments including the four major grand slams in Australia, England, United States and France and numerous smaller ATP and WTA tournaments. Therefore, the managers must plan which tournaments are important for their client, when they have to register for the same and when they have to be present at the venue. Some tournaments also have regulations such as a specific dress codes, therefore they also need to communicate with the sponsors to comply with the regulations. During Olympics and such mega events respective committee for each country will be responsible for travel of their players. Olympic teams can include hundreds of players from various disciplines with their sporting equipment and coaches, so planning logistics and travel for them is not an easy feat at all.

When it comes to team sports, travel and logistics get a bit complicated. Let us, take an example of European football, regular season starts in august with the domestic league. Domestic league comprises of around 20 clubs with each club playing twice against the same club once at home and once away. Clubs simultaneously compete in other domestic and international cup competitions. Domestic league matches are played on the weekends with cup competitions mid-week. The football federation plans the calendar in such a way that clubs have right balance between home and away matches. Therefore, club officials must plan the travel from week to week which may include one home game and two away matches or two home matches and one away. Training and proper rest also need to be considered which takes place between these match days and travel. Travel may take place via busses, trains or by planes depending on the distance. Some matches might be 5km away, some thousands so, they must account for travel time as well as comfort of players. A typical travelling squad can be 18-25 players, 10-15 staff on average which includes the manager, coaches, physios, and administrative staff. Match kits are also carried and some things are directly delivered at the destinations by the supplier. All clubs have 3 different kits home, away and third kit, and prints and sponsors also may differ competition to competition. Players too have their preferences over size or type of kit, long or short, and other small details. Moreover, clubs also must carry necessary sporting equipment with them, for eg, for traning and fitness equiplment. Therefore, club officials need to organise all these small details well in advance.  

But no sport is as logistically challenging as motorsports and more specifically Formula 1. Formula 1 is considered as the pinnacle of motorsports and millions are spent on sporting performance. While equipment matters in all sports, there is no comparison for how smallest of parts can be vital to a team’s success. Formula 1 is the most international sport competition there is, over the year F1 has 21 races in 21 different countries over 5 continents with as little as a weeks’ gap in between the races. Organised chaos of trucks, ships, and planes with the help of its logistics partner DHL the sport transports over 1000 tons of equipment worth millions of dollars all over the world. The equipment accounts for every small part needed for the team including car body work, technology, tools, machinery along with the catering facilities, meeting spaces and everything needed to broadcast the sport. Every teams carries their temporary headquarters at the track with them, which is built from scratch, broken down, sorted, packed, shipped, read to be unpacked at a new venue.

Equipment is classified as critical and non-critical for race performance. The shipments of non-critical equipment; including garage equipment, branding panels, catering; has multiple sets that travel to different locations over the year. Equipment classified as critical; which includes the cars, pit equipment, computers; travels to each race with the teams. Transportation of F1 cars requires precision planning and care. Individual car parts are specifically designed and manufactured for the sport that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Cars are stripped down to the last component; the engine, chassis, suspension, front and rear wing and mirrors. All other body parts are removed and packed in customised containers before being transported to the next venue. Some races are held on circuit, while others are city street converted into a circuit, so not all have the necessary broadcast facilities and safety barriers, so F1 production crew also travel from race to race with it’s equipment to build broadcast centers and track side barriers. 

Within the span of days, F1 finishes its race in one country and is ready for another in a different country. While travelling logistics team also need to consider the time difference for example, travelling to China after a race in Bahrain means the team loses 5 hours due to the time difference. Just like the races every second counts in logistics and travel but because of careful planning and practice F1 pulls off this amazing feat every year without a hitch. 

Legal regulations are also a particularly important factor in travel and logistics of sport. Player managers and team officials must arrange all documents needed for players for the travel as well as documentation for the sporting equipment. However, players, coaches, and other support staff are not the only ones who travel in sport. Fans and supporters also need attention while discussing travel and logistics of sport. Although fans are responsible for arranging their own travel, sporting organisations and authorities have the responsibility of making travel convenient for them. Mega sporting events have people all around the world travelling to the destination, a football match can have thousands of supporters who attend the matches in the stadium every week, formula 1 Grands Prix circuits are more often located on the outskirts. Therefore, the organisers of the event must work with local authorities to precisely make arrangements that will ensure safe and easy travel for the fans.  

All in all, there is a lot more happening behind the scenes in logistics and travel in sport. Every small detail need consideration. The complexity and the amount of work needed for everything to go smoothly makes logistics and travel a whole ‘nother sport itself. 

picture credits - redbull.com, essentiallysports.com, dailymail.co.uk,