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Pro and college sports teams - how do they travel to games?

Pro and college sports teams - how do they travel to games?

Old Nov 14, 2007, 11:03 am
  #31  
 
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The Washington Wizards of the NBA and Washington Capitals of the NHL share a customized 737. If you should ever run across it at an airport, it has a Wizards logo on one side of the vertical tail and a Capitals logo on the other.
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Old Nov 14, 2007, 1:52 pm
  #32  
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Originally Posted by jpmcdonough
We flew to SAN at Christmas in 2001, and the University of Texas football team was on our flight, or a sizable () portion thereof. Given the short time since Sept 11, being on a plane with a bunch of very large, fit, young men was kind of reassuring. Nobody was going to take over that flight!

It was a regular AA mad dog.
LOL. They fly charters during the regular season when the team is picked up at the university by chartered bus and then driven to the airport for a chartered flight, but during the bowl season the team is usually scattered for the holidays, so they can end up on regular commercial flights heading out to meet up for bowl practice.

Doesn't always turn out the way they like, however. For this year's UCF game, the chartered bus broke down on the way to the airport, the chartered flight itself was a mechanical delay, and the chartered bus on the other end broke down as well. Mack said it was like being with the Griswolds on a National Lampoon vacation movie.

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Old Nov 14, 2007, 3:48 pm
  #33  
 
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Some players also fly their own private jets (or shared ownership jets) along with their families to and from games. This is often negotiated as part of their contracts.
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Old Nov 14, 2007, 8:57 pm
  #34  
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I saw an earlier post about the Raptors having an A300...I didn't know they switched. They used to have a custom-painted 757. Saw it taxiing into EWR one morning.
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Old Nov 14, 2007, 10:05 pm
  #35  
 
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well, according to this, the Detroit Red Wings did have a chartered/converted DC-9 up until yesterday, when the pilot drove the plane off of the taxi way and into the mud.
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Old Nov 14, 2007, 10:07 pm
  #36  
 
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Originally Posted by meducate
Some players also fly their own private jets (or shared ownership jets) along with their families to and from games. This is often negotiated as part of their contracts.
that is true. during the U.S. Open, they did a story about how Roger Federer offered to take Rafael Nadal (who was scheduled to fly commercial) to a tournament in his private jet. Nadal took him up on his offer.
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 12:53 am
  #37  
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The answer really is it depends. A few years ago I was traveling out of Vermont around the time of the NIT. I was in the middle seat between a power forward and center for the UVM men's basketball team. They were flying through Denver on their way to the tourney. I felt very bad for them as I knew there was a storm coming to Denver. They were stuck there all night and ended up getting a bus to CO Springs the next day and flew out of there. They played in the tourney with little to no sleep and really didn't have a chance in their game. Large schools might charter a plane, but not every school has deep pockets.

In terms of the pros, they charter planes. Generally, the seats up front are for coaches and senior players. If you're a rookie, much like regular flying, expect to sit in the back.
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 8:53 am
  #38  
 
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Mike..you might be right...

Originally Posted by ConciergeMike
I saw an earlier post about the Raptors having an A300...I didn't know they switched. They used to have a custom-painted 757. Saw it taxiing into EWR one morning.
...I was just commenting from memory...I may be incorrect. You are right the plane is custom painted so its probably the same one.
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 2:43 pm
  #39  
 
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Paul Allen's teams (Seattle Seahawks & Portland JailBlazers) fly in one of his (Vulcan's) 757s.

I believe the Seattle Mariners charter the same plane from time to time.
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 2:48 pm
  #40  
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I remember hearing a few years ago about the various private jets owned by the Dolan family, they of Madison Square Garden. The only reason the planes made the news was the poor performance of the Rangers. Supposedly Mr. Dolan himself at one point said that until the Rangers start winning consistently again, they are to be scheduled on the plane more in need of renovation. Being a Devils fan, when I read the article I gave it the Larry the Cable Guy seal of approval: "I don't care who you are, that's funny right there."
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 2:55 pm
  #41  
 
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Originally Posted by jmplatinum
I know the Spurs, Lakers, and Sonics all fly specially configured Champion Air 727s.
I wouldn't call the config special but it is only 59 seats ...all first class
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Old Nov 15, 2007, 6:31 pm
  #42  
 
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Kansas Jayhawk football travels via AA Mad Dog. KU Hoops has a custom charter 737
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Old Nov 18, 2007, 3:47 am
  #43  
 
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Stanford Men's Basketball team was flying UA on 11/17 IAD-SFO. Don't know if they use exclusively UA, but on this evening they were.
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Old Nov 18, 2007, 8:24 am
  #44  
 
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Gonzaga

I actually flew with the Gonzaga basketball team from Portland to Spokane a couple of years ago. This was on a regional AE flight (1 and 2 seat config with props). I was in the exit row and got on early, look up and there were all of these giant kids coming on. I noticed Adam Morrison, (and my seatmate pointed him out to me). They got on last and all the kids were plugged into their ipods in the back. Watching these very tall kids try to keep from bumping their heads in this small plane was somewhat comical, but they were all very very polite and nice to everyone. When morrison blew out his knee early this year it made me remember that flight.

San Jose State has their own plane that they fly everywhere, it is parked at SJC and you can see it when you taxi out. I think that San Jose State also has some sort of aircraft related program that they use the plane for.
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Old Nov 18, 2007, 7:14 pm
  #45  
 
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carolina Panthers use USAIRWAYS.
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