ABSTRACT
The organizing committee is at the centre of the sport event's planning. The complex nature of sports events and their organizing committees require the assistance of multiple theoretical perspectives to grasp its nature and functioning. This chapter provides an overview of what an organizing committee is, its structure and functions, and who is included within it. The types of workforce an event can have vary; they include full-time or part-time paid staff, pre-event and event-time volunteers, secondees, consultants, contractors, and event gypsies. The chapter briefly presents the various stakeholder relationships the organizing committee has. The organizing committee goes through three modes – planning, implementation, and wrap-up during its lifecycle and deals with many different issues. The chapter critically discusses research associated with organizing committees, focusing notably on their role in relation to normative aspects such as legacy. It concludes by suggesting future research directions.
