Guide
Professional timing company or in-house race timing: which pays off for organizers?
· 6 min read
In short
- An external company provides experience, equipment and accountability, but you pay for every event and need to book it in advance.
- In-house race timing suits recurring events and smaller fields where hundredths of a second are unnecessary.
- For official federation competitions, the timing method and its certification are often prescribed by the rules, so an in-house solution is usually unsuitable.
- A hybrid approach uses an in-house system for smaller events and an external company for the largest ones.
Sooner or later, every organizer faces a decision: hire a professional timing company or manage race timing in-house? There is no single right answer. Five criteria can help you decide.
Event size
For hundreds or thousands of competitors, an external company provides proven equipment, staff and procedures. For a field of 40, however, it can be relatively expensive, which is why small events often go without one. You can find a cost breakdown in How much does race timing cost?.
Required accuracy and rules
Federation competitions and official events may have prescribed timing rules, such as fully automatic timing to hundredths or thousandths of a second and a backup timing system. Approved equipment and experienced operators are generally required in such cases, and these are often provided by a specialist company. See the overview in Race timing standards: a comparison across sports.
Flexibility and timing
An external company must be booked in advance, and its calendar fills up. With your own solution, you can change an event at short notice, add a checkpoint or organize your own mini-series. That is a major advantage for clubs holding several events each year.
Risk and responsibility
With an external company, part of the risk can be contractually transferred to the supplier. With an in-house solution, the organizer bears that risk and therefore needs a backup procedure and a test before the start. See The most common race timing mistakes for a list of typical errors.
Data and results
Who owns the data, and who publishes it? With an in-house solution, registrations and results can remain with the organizer, depending on the configuration and contract. This makes communication with competitors and marketing future editions easier.
Practical recommendation
If your events have no more than a few hundred competitors and results are recorded in whole seconds, an in-house timing system using an app and chips is a sensible choice. For the first few editions, you can keep an external company as a secondary backup. You can also try the approach described in How to organize a running race: timing and checklist.
TAQIO as a third option
TAQIO sits between manual stopwatches and an external timing company. You can set up an event in a few minutes, record times with a phone or RFID reader, and publish results online as soon as the data synchronizes. The app is free for up to 5 participants per event, so trying it costs nothing. If you need a tailored solution, contact us.
Frequently asked questions
When do I need an external timing company?
For large events with thousands of competitors, competitions requiring specified accuracy or certification, and situations where the organizer lacks the experience or staff to operate the system.
Can an organizer handle race timing independently?
Yes, at small and medium-sized events where results are recorded in whole seconds. You need a clear procedure, a test before the start and backup timing.
What happens if the company’s system fails?
Liability is usually addressed in the contract. Ask whether the company has a backup system and how it handles disputes over results.
Is it worth buying a timing system for a club?
If a club or organizer holds several events each year, buying its own equipment will usually pay for itself faster than repeatedly hiring an external company.