Role of Operations and Logistics in Sports Management

August 26, 2022

In today’s world, the number of sports events is rising at an increasing rate with the number of sports leagues internationally and domestically, especially in India. The role of sports managers in operations and logistics is helpful while organising sports events, so their demand has increased.

Operations in Sports management

In sports and sporting events, operations refer to planning, executing and managing an event. Thus, it is clear that an operation manager looks into everything required to run a sporting event smoothly, be it working for the crowd, handling emergencies in the venue, looking after medical emergencies and many other things.

Professionals in sports operations are in charge of all the crucial components of a sporting event. Active people's primary responsibility is successfully executing a sporting event involving event planning, promotion, execution, and broadcasting. They are highly well-organized and busy people. They also need soft skills as they negotiate and deal with vendors, manage a team of volunteers, assign work, handle crises, and coordinate with all departments.

Logistics in Sports management

Sports logistics represents the intersection between (sport) event management and logistics management and refers to efficient and effective logistics activities behind any sports event.

International, national, and local sports organisations extensively rely on logistics management techniques to run their businesses. Examples include moving Formula 1 race cars and organising volunteers for small-scale events. Sports managers must oversee logistics activities that are taking place at many levels and frequently concurrently at sporting events, notably significant and mega-events. Surprisingly, sports logistics in general and some aspects of sports event logistics, in particular, have not gotten much scholarly attention. However, sports management has developed into a booming academic subject within management studies.

Skills required for an operation and logistic manager in sports management

Planning: The planning procedure will involve an operations manager.

An operations manager will spend anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks before the event to organise the event day, depending on the team they are a member of.
Making a list of the temporary workers needed for the event, the workflow leading up to the event, the equipment and venue construction required, and any other requirements essential to the plan's implementation are all included in this.

Administration & Execution: The strategies made before and during the event must be carried out by an operations manager.

Support Functionality: An operations manager may be asked to assist other operations teams and carry out their duties during an event.

Respect for locals of the host country: A successful sporting event depends on participants being aware of the local rules and laws. The logistics service provider is in charge of organising the transportation while abiding by all local laws and regulations.

The post-graduate programme in sports management and entrepreneurship offered by the prestigious institute of GNIMS business school imparts training students on the roles of operations and logistics to its students with its unique curriculum and holistic approach. The program will help the students to become efficient sports managers in the future and kickstart their careers.