Sport Logistics: Considerations on the Nexus of Logistics and Sport Management and Its Unique Features

Abstract

Background: This paper is the first-ever discussion of sport logistics as an intersection of the academic disciplines of logistics and sport management. Methods: It reviews past literature and states that logistics in sport is widely overlooked in academic literature. It illustrates the importance and pervasive nature of logistics in the sport industry and questions how sport logistics can be positioned at the interface of logistics and sport management science. Both disciplines are contrasted under the common lens of Porter’s value chain. Results: Operations, organization and marketing are identified along with economics and strategy as areas of sport management (highly) involved with logistics. Sport logistics is defined as a research area dealing with storage and transportation issues in sport organizations. Conclusions: Based on a case example from practice, athlete equipment logistics, the authors elaborate on the unique characteristics of managing logistics in sport, e.g., low competition, personal relationships and high demand predictability. They call for a broader discourse on sport logistics in academia.