CASE STUDY
The Green Sports Alliance Bringing Sustainability to College Football Playoff
The $500 billion sports market has delighted and entertained millions of fans, but at what cost to the environment?
Picture dazzling lights, brilliant green fields, and state-of-the-art stadiums. Passionate sports fans travel around the world to support their favorite athletes and witness the making of sports history.
Sports are stepping up to the plate and hitting a homerun when it comes to sustainability - thanks to the Green Sports Alliance. The Portland-based non-profit is changing the game for sports organizations, teams, and venues by addressing the urgent need for climate action within the industry. Since 2010, the Green Sports Alliance has facilitated meaningful change toward a more sustainable future by promoting sustainable practices, providing educational resources, collaborating with experts, and advocating for policy change. The Green Sports Alliance also leads Advisory Services and Play to Zero, including Playoff Green, an initiative that develops scalable sustainability plans and resources for sports organizations to minimize their environmental impacts and achieve carbon neutrality. The RyeStrategy team was grateful and excited
when Green Sports Alliance reached out to us to support their sustainability initiatives by providing carbon accounting services for this year’s College Football Playoff (CFP).
The 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship was a record-breaking event for Playoff Green, raising the bar for sustainability within the sports industry and we were honored to play a role in the process. In parallel with other sustainability initiatives, RyeStrategy was tasked with carbon accounting for the entire CFP event which included emissions from buildings, temporary facilities, ground transportation for the event itself, and fan travel.
With numerous moving parts associated with the event (load in & out, along with the actual event day) RyeStrategy looked at prep, during, and after the event as three separate processes.
Preparing for the College Football Playoff
In the months leading up to the big event, RyeStrategy carbon consultants met with each of the vendors providing services to the College Football Playoff - including building facilities, hotels, and police representatives. These meetings were utilized to gain insight about the inner workings of each of the emissions sources involved to ensure all necessary pieces of information were going to be captured. From these meetings, the teams were prepared to gather the data points that were likely needed post-event.
After setting up the processes in the prep stage, reminders were sent to all involved stakeholders regarding the requested data and the events commenced. While activity data for carbon emission calculations wouldn’t be available until after the event, GSA & CFP had other significant sustainability measures in process during the event, including hand-sorting waste for an impressive diversion rate, donating excess food to area food banks, and donating and installing the sod from the tailgate field to a local park to install a soccer field.
Carbon Emissions Data Collection Strategy
Winning with Net Zero Results
After all of the events, including load out, each of the stakeholders were prompted to submit their data to the RyeStrategy team for emissions calculations. Where there were data gaps due to unretrievable information, relevant averages and estimates were utilized. After all events and calculations were said and done, GSA utilized the carbon emissions results provided by RyeStrategy to purchase renewable energy credits and carbon offsets to offset 100% of all electricity, local transportation, onsite fuels, waste, food and beverage procurement, and energy consumed from water, as well as 7% of fan travel.
The Green Sports Alliance and its Playoff Green program are shining examples of how the sports industry can be a champion of sustainability and a catalyst for change. Major events, such as the College Football Playoff, have the power to reach the lives of thousands of individuals within the sports industry and beyond – from the stakeholders, athletes, and fans, everyone has an impact on the planet and a duty to protect it. By uniting the thrill of
competition with a commitment to sustainability, education, and advocacy, the Green Sports Alliance and Playoff Green are forging a path where sporting events are not only celebrated for their incredible athletic feats but also for their contribution to a greener future.
RyeStrategy is proud to support the College Football Playoff, Playoff Green, and the sustainable sports movement at large. If your organization, team, or venue is considering its environmental impact, we’re here to support you on every step of the decarbonization journey, from carbon footprinting and mitigation strategies to emissions reporting and target setting.
Read the full College Football Playoff Impact Report and learn more about Sustainability in Sports.
2023 College Football Playoff National Championship
100%
of emissions from electricity, local transportation, onsite fuels, waste, food and beverage procurement, and energy consumed from water
7%
of emissions from fan travel
offset by Green Sports Alliance
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