{"id":1368,"date":"2018-01-11T10:04:50","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T14:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/?p=1368"},"modified":"2019-09-11T16:39:53","modified_gmt":"2019-09-11T20:39:53","slug":"game-on-recognizing-sports-role-in-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/2018\/01\/11\/game-on-recognizing-sports-role-in-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"Game On: Recognizing Sports\u2019 Role in Sustainability–By Kristin Hanczor"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Source: Pixabay.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sports Might be the Most Undervalued Industry in Promoting Climate Action<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sports is a widely overlooked opportunity in the fight against climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cSustainability\u201d typically implies nonprofits protecting wildlife or companies reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It\u2019s harder to recognize that America\u2019s favorite pastimes can be a solution to our most pressing climate challenges.<\/p>\n

If you’ve ever attended a sporting event, you’ll understand how they intersect almost every major industry: energy to heat or cool the space, chemicals for the playing surface, materials for uniforms and fan gear, food sourced for concessions, transportation to and from the event, and waste produced by fans. Each of these offers an opportunity to align with traditional sustainability goals and should factor into our discussion of climate change solutions.<\/p>\n

Sports\u2019 Unifying Advantage<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sports transcend boundaries of age, race, gender, political affiliation and socioeconomic status. They’re deeply rooted in our country\u2019s history and almost everyone has a direct memory of either playing or watching a game. In this current time of deep division, sports may be one of our last options for uniting with each other. According to a National Science Foundation survey, sixteen percent of Americans follow science while seventy percent follow sports<\/a>. Sports can make environmentally conscious behaviors much more mainstream. With hundreds of thousands of fans engaged almost every day of the year, if we’re not looking to sports as a way to engage people on climate change, we’re missing a huge opportunity.<\/p>\n

Sports Sustainability is Corporate Sustainability <\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2015, 81% of S&P 500 companies published a sustainability or corporate responsibility report<\/a>, compared to just under 20% in 2011. Reporting has become standard in the corporate world, not only so companies can manage what they measure, but also so they can keep up with competitors and find opportunities for sustainability initiatives to lead to increased profits. Professional sports teams and leagues are businesses that also can benefit from reduced energy costs, improved employee morale and increased community engagement.<\/p>\n

In 2014, the National Hockey League (NHL) released the first sustainability report by a major sports league in North America<\/a>, disclosing the league\u2019s carbon footprint and outlining initiatives for energy, water, waste and fan engagement.<\/p>\n

In the report, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman writes, \u201cAt the NHL, we recognize that we have great responsibility for the way we conduct our business . . . We are uniquely positioned to promote the environmental message . . . We join many of our business partners who have for years been documenting their emissions and making progress toward their own sustainability goals.”<\/p>\n

I believe the NHL\u2019s actions should kick start a sports sustainability reporting trend, with other leagues and individual teams realizing that reducing their environmental impact can cut costs, improve public perception, create new sponsorship opportunities and more.<\/p>\n

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Examples of Success<\/strong><\/p>\n

Teams and leagues are implementing sustainability initiatives across the industry, reducing their environmental footprints and delivering positive financial returns, fan engagement opportunities and other competitive advantages. A few highlights of the\u00a0many<\/em> impressive programs currently in play:<\/p>\n