Sport has always been shaped by the environment. Seasons determine when competitions begin. Weather conditions decide how games are played. But something has shifted. The conditions that sport has long relied on are becoming harder to predict, and in many cases, harder to survive.
In 2024, the average global temperature exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, making heatwaves more frequent, prolonged, and severe. For athletes, fans, and the organisations behind the world’s biggest events, that is no longer a distant statistic. It is a live operational problem.
The human cost is already visible
Look at the evidence and you find a pattern that is impossible to ignore. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, temperatures hit 34°C with humidity reaching 70%, making it the hottest Games on record. Spain’s Paula Badosa collapsed from heat exhaustion and was carried from court in a wheelchair. Russia’s Daniil Medvedev told officials mid-match: “I can finish the match, but I can die.”
At the Tour de France, temperatures soared to near 40°C on the hottest days of the men’s race, while the road surface itself reached up to 140°C. Organisers were forced to spray water on melting asphalt and introduce additional feed zones.
According to a World Athletics survey, three-quarters of athletes have been directly impacted by climate change. That figure alone should stop the sports industry in its tracks.
It goes beyond the elite level
This is a challenge that ripples far beyond the podium. Security guards stand outside stadiums for hours without shade. Community race marshals work without insurance cover. Spectators queue in direct heat with nowhere to go. When governing bodies talk about heat risk, they need to account for everyone inside and outside the venue, not just the athletes competing.
Research from The Climate Coalition found that an estimated 62,500 amateur football matches have been cancelled due to extreme weather. The grassroots game is feeling the heat long before the professional calendar takes notice.
Sport is adapting, but the clock is ticking
Some progress is happening. The Paris 2024 Games introduced environmental monitoring using Wet Bulb Globe Temperature measurements to assess heat stress risks, alongside cool corridors, retractable roofs, and misting stations. The Qatar World Cup was rescheduled entirely to November and December to protect player welfare. Marathon events have been moved hundreds of miles north, or started in the middle of the night.
These are smart, practical moves. But they are responses to a problem, rather than solutions to its root cause. Scientists and event organisers increasingly agree that the Summer Olympics may eventually need to move away from July and August altogether, a prospect that would reshape the world’s most-watched sporting calendar beyond recognition.
What comes next
Sport has a credibility problem on this issue. It carries enormous cultural reach and the power to shift public behaviour, yet many organisations are still treating climate adaptation as a logistics challenge rather than a strategic one.
The brands and events that get ahead of this will be the ones that connect athlete welfare, fan experience, and environmental responsibility under a single, coherent narrative. Those that wait for a crisis to force their hand will find the story is written for them.
The world is warming. The calendar is under pressure. And sport, like every other industry, needs to decide what role it wants to play.
About the author
Joe Murgatroyd | Partner & Creative Director
As creative director, Joe is responsible for delivering creative excellence across the agency. With over a decade of experience in the world of PR, specialising in the sport industry, Joe has amassed some enviable experience after working for some of the world’s most recognisable brands.
An alumnus of Sport Industry Group’s prestigious ‘Sports Industry NextGen Leader’ programme, he now shares his wisdom as a frequent contributor to industry publications such as The Drum, PR Week and Creative Moment.
