Hamilton Rentals helps CWC19 organisers stage a smooth-running world-class event
Background
The world’s most watched sporting event in 2019, one of the biggest sporting events on the planet took place. The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup tournament saw ten of the world’s best performing international cricket teams battle it out at venues across the UK in a bid to win the prestigious trophy.
Held every four years, the 2019 tournament was hosted by England and Wales – the first time in 20 years the event has returned to UK shores.
Attracting billions of viewers globally, the tournament set new TV and digital viewing records to become one of the world’s most watched sporting events.
Broadcast in 220 territories on 46 separate TV stages, the International Cricket council (ICC) reports its digital and social platforms hosted an unprecedented 2.6 billion video views and its Word Cup Website was visited by 65 million fans.
The Requirement
Enabling operational excellence
Held over a six-week period, the tournament saw 800,000 cricket fans attending a total of 48 matches played at 11 venues up and down the UK. From the opening match held at The Oval, to the exciting finale played out at Lord’s Cricket Ground, the operational challenges involved in enabling a smooth-running tournament were immense.
Tasked with providing the technology infrastructure and know-how required to ensure each event ran smoothly and met everyone’s expectations – fans, staff, spectators, sponsors, press, and broadcasters – George Bright, Event Technology Manager for Cricket World Cup 2019 (CWC19) outlines the scale of the mission his team faced.
“Just about everyone volunteering or working at each venue needed some level of technology provision and support. In the run up to the tournament, our technology team had to scope every requirement – everything from internet connectivity to devices – and co-ordinate successful delivery ,” he explains.
The Solution
Short Term Rental–A Sustainable Solution
Throughout the months of detailed planning that took place within the organising committee, it was clear that the technology and AV required to support on-site operations at each venue far exceeded the in-house resources of the technology team, venues and stakeholders.
“Purchasing the devices and equipment needed represented a significant financial outlay. But that wasn’t the only issue – the question of sustainability was also top of mind for the team. It made little sense to purchase technology that would only be used for a two month period – with little likelihood of re-deployment at the close of the tournament,” explains George.
From a logistical standpoint, getting the required equipment prepared and shipped to each venue and then collected and returned or shipped to the next venue represented another major issue.
“As a relatively small technology team handling multiple complex tournament-related projects, we simply didn’t have the time or resources to undertake these additional activities,” he continues.
The answer was to explore options for IT equipment rental; with Hamilton Rentals identified to come up with a cost-effective and sustainable solution that would ensure operations at each match venue would run like clockwork.
“Together with Hamilton, we scoped 13 different delivery and collection orders to meet the requirements of our various stakeholders. Our objective was to ensure all staff and stakeholders would be able to deliver their services with the minimum of fuss – and without exceeding our budgetary limits,” says George.
The outcomes
The Technology team at CWC19, with the support of Hamilton, were able to define their exact requirements. In total, 105 laptops, 48 digital screens, 78 Apple iPads, 11 PA systems and 31 printers were supplied to venues for the duration of the tournament.
“We deployed the technology to support a variety of on-site team needs. For example, the laptops powered the venue accreditation centres issuing passes to all stakeholders with an operational role on venue.”
“Meanwhile, we loaded the iPads with a selection of easy-to-use apps, so that volunteers working in our Spectator Services teams could quickly and easily deal with queries from members of the public – responding to anything from enquiries about ticket availability for future matches, to looking up weather information,” says George.
“Staff working in team and match official liaison roles were given an iPad pre-populated with all relevant manuals so they could easily co-ordinate their activities and had all the essential information they needed at their fingertips.”
PA systems and display screens were deployed across venues in a variety of locations, including press boxes, to ensure media representatives could view multiple live-streams and coverage without taking valuable bandwidth and independently using their own multiple devices to access this information.
“Hamilton took care of a number of time-saving actions on our behalf – like configuring all laptops with Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. They also produced a manifest, complete with serial numbers, which made it much easier for us to manage equipment allocations at each venue – and coordinate equipment returns for collection at the close of each event,” he continues.
Why Hamilton Rentals?
Hiring the AV and IT equipment from Hamilton Rentals ensured that on-site event teams were able to do their job efficiently on the day
“Having worked with Hamilton previously, we were confident in their level of service and their ability to work within our budgetary limits was assured,” confirms George.
“From our perspective, Hamilton’s responsiveness and adaptability proved a key asset. Whenever a problem arose – kit got damaged or lost in the field by users – they responded immediately and provided a resolution within 24 hours. Collection dates for kit were adjusted on the fly, and they provided extra deliveries to meet short notice additional requirements,” he continues.
This approach proved vital to ensuring the smooth running of a hectic tournament schedule, which saw up to eight matches a week taking place in the early stages of the event.
“Hamilton’s team communicated and collaborated closely with us, every step of the way. They were extremely accommodating – and even provided us with multiple spares with each delivery, to ensure we had extra capacity to cope with any eventuality.”
