Professional sports go green to woo fans, cut costs

February 9, 2011
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ANN ARBOR—Professional sports realized long ago that fans like to drink beer during games, but only recently did they discover that fans prefer to throw used cups in recycle bins, a University of Michigan study shows.

Though not required, professional sports teams and leagues have started going green in a strategic move to meet the growing environmental demands of fans, forge partnerships with nontraditional sponsors and cut costs, says Kathy Babiak, an associate professor at the U-M School of Kinesiology.

Not much research has been done on the greening of sports, she says. Most of this kind of research focuses on traditional industries, like manufacturing, that harm the environment. Those industries are often forced into compliance by regulations or financial incentives.

In a study appearing in the journal Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Babiak and colleague Sylvia Trendafilova of the University of Tennessee found that the greening of sports happens for strategic reasons and in response to fan demands.

“(Teams) are seeing this as an opportunity to enhance their reputation and image. They are viewed as better citizens within the community and this also gives them an opportunity to develop relationships with nontraditional partners or organizations or sponsors,” Babiak said. “They are going to companies like waste management or water purification companies, which are whole new partnership areas for professional sports.”

Environmentally sound practices such as recycling and using renewable energy are a relatively new phenomenon in professional sports, the researchers say. Within the past few years there have been shifts in environmental practices at the league and team levels. In 2003, the Philadelphia Eagles (leaders in the environmental sports movement) launched the Go Green initiative. The cornerstones of the project include recycling, using renewable energy, neutralizing carbon output, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and planting trees. Since 2004, electricity consumption has declined by almost 50 percent at the stadium, which offsets emissions equal to about 17 million car miles annually. But teams don’t only save on costs, the researchers say. The new partnerships formed are economically advantageous for the team and the partner company. For example, a waste management sponsor could potentially become a partner in a recycling venture.

“There are two ways to think about it,” Babiak said. “There’s an opportunity for revenue generation in the form of sponsorships and partnerships, and cost savings in the form of energy efficiencies such as energy-efficient light bulbs or solar power or recycling.”

Babiak and Trendafilova say that environmental initiatives of sports leagues are usually driven by team management or the commissioner’s office, but that the athletes, themselves, often do their part.

“A lot of NHL players have purchased carbon offsets for team related travel,” Babiak said.

The University of Michigan School of Kinesiology continues to be a leader in the areas of prevention and rehabilitation, the business of sport, understanding lifelong health and mobility, and achieving health across the lifespan through physical activity. The School of Kinesiology is home to the Athletic Training, Movement Science, Physical Education, and Sport Management academic programs, bringing together leaders in physiology, biomechanics, public health, urban planning, economics, marketing, public policy, and education and behavioral science. For more information, visit www.kines.umich.edu

 

 

M planet blue: the sustainable differenceU-M Sustainability fosters a more sustainable world through collaborations across campus and beyond aimed at educating students, generating new knowledge, and minimizing our environmental footprint. Learn more at sustainability.umich.edu.

 

 

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