ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the relationship between legal issues, risk assessment, and sport facility operations. It being impossible to make the reader a legal expert and impractical to cover all the specific laws worldwide that affect sport facility operations management, the authors strive to articulate the effects of the legal environment on sport facilities by dispelling the myth that law and risk management in sport facilities are one in the same. Therefore, the reader will be provided with an overview of the major legal principles and standards related to the management and operations of sport facilities, as well as recommendations regarding the level of legal expertise sport facility managers should have – including when they should defer to individuals with a higher level of proficiency in the law. Inclusive of this will be the explanation of how sport facility managers must plan for all types of emergencies that may disrupt normal operations. In order to manage and mitigate potential incidents, facility managers need to possess a sound knowledge of risk management practices including risk assessment, risk control strategies, and risk planning options.
