More than 100 million Americans will be watching today’s Super Bowl matchup between Kansas City and Philadelphia. Whether you tune in to see the game, the halftime show or the commercials, the Super Bowl is the world’s premier sports event.
Little known to most viewers is that every year, NFL Green organizes a series of “media focused” environmental activities in communities that host the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, and the NFL Draft. I actually served as a “green” advisor to the Super Bowl XLI Host Committee in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale.
While it was an amazing experience to be involved with the NFL and we did some outstanding work on coastal zone management, we could have done more to make South Florida football culture more sustainable. Still, it was an honor to be invited, so with that in mind let’s check out a few green stats to share about today’s big game in Phoenix, AZ:
The Good News
The Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee worked with NFL Green to create their largest clean up / restoration event ever – January 21st, 2023 , at the Salt River.
With the greening events the Host Committee has completed – it will remove the impact of over 10,000 pounds of carbon emissions by 2030.
Super Bowl LVII and the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee is the first Super Bowl that is tracking the carbon sequestration of its greening events.
This is the first Super Bowl where sustainable key cards are being used at hotels – 15,000 across various hotels around the Phoenix area.
The SB Host Committee is looking to achieve over a 92% waste diversion rate during Super Bowl Experience at Hance Park to become the greenest Super Bowl Experience ever.
The SB Host Committee will be recovering food that will be donated to local food banks and shelters after Super Bowl.
The SB Host Committee will be recovering materials that will be repurposed by local nonprofits and charities.
The SB Host Committee will seek to offset the total energy footprint of Super Bowl LVII venues
The Not-So-Good News
State Farm Stadium falls short in several categories involving sustainability practices compared to other NFL venues.
State Farm Stadium lacks solar panels and aggressive waste diversion measures.
State Farm Stadium does not conduct audits of it’s CO2 impact and wast output (three NFL franchises -- Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Seattle do.)
State Farm Stadium ranks near the bottom of the most eco-friendly stadiums with robust recycling and composting, renewable energy use, EV charging stations, local food sourcing, and easy access to public transportation.
The Takeaway
If the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee can do so many amazing “green” things for one game, why won’t the NFL and Cardinals franchise just adopt sustainable energy and zero waste practices year round?
That’s what we did in Ft. Lauderdale. The reason I was appointed an advisor to the 2007 SB Host Committee was because the community leaders embraced sustainability. They were already committed to completely transforming U.S. beach culture through the landmark “Blue Wave” Campaign - an eco-certification I created and launched with Ft. Lauderdale in 1999.
So my challenge to the NFL and the city of Las Vegas, NV (host of Super Bowl LVIII in 2024) is to transform NFL Green into a sustainable concept, not just something you trot out for media attention 3 times a year.
What No Golden Shovel Yet When will The Golden Shovel go from Arizona to Las Vegas. No Passing Of The Golden Shovel Because Of those Ray Rice And Adrian Peterson Investagations we keep hearing about Come on People. Stop Being lazy and GET YOUR LAZY BUTTS IN GEAR NOW.
What No Golden Shovel Yet When will The Golden Shovel go from Arizona to Las Vegas. No Passing Of The Golden Shovel Because Of those Ray Rice And Adrian Peterson Investagations we keep hearing about Come on People. Stop Being lazy and GET YOUR LAZY BUTTS IN GEAR NOW.