NFL Goes Green

Written by: Megan Leben

Last article, I looked at how NASCAR was “Going Green” and promoting environmental care in their facilities. This time, I take a look at how the National Football League is doing in their sustainability efforts.

The NFL and NFL Green – their environmental program - look for unique ways to engage fans in sustainability. Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta was a game that the NFL really tried to engage attendees and it worked.

“We want to get the message to folks, but we have to turn that into something that enhances their experience so much that they go home and talk about it,” Jack Groh, Director of the NFL’s Environmental Programme said.

Leading up to kickoff, the NFL tried to get fans to really understand why being environmentally friendly is good. Their theory was that “fans want to be entertained, not preached to” according to Sports Sustainability Journal.

“When that person comes home from Super Bowl and their friends ask them about the game, they’ll say: ‘The game was great – and I won this hat for recycling a can’” Groh said. That’s the message we want to spread. We want to make it such a cool thing that people will want to recycle. I think that’s the way you build sustainability into fan engagement.”

They tried to engage fans in several ways. Fans that were seen recycling got a free Super Bowl hat in their “Recycle and Win” initiative. This was a great tactic for the NFL to try because football fans like to feel like they “won” and enjoy getting a reward from something so simple gave them that feeling.

They also hosted an e-waste rally at the Atlanta Zoo (the third annual). Basically, people can bring old computers, TVs and other electronics to the zoo to be recycled. The NFL promotes this by explaining that minerals in these electronics are mined from gorilla habitats and the more that can be extracted from recycled products, the fewer gorillas that are affected. 

The NFL did a good job of explaining this to fans and got a good turnout at the e-waste rally.

One of the coolest things the NFL did in Atlanta was establish urban forestry projects around the city. The Super Bowl planted trees, bushes and gardens in different areas on the city as on this map. This was in an effort to make an direct environmental impact on the city rather than just preaching about “going green.”

The cool things about these projects is these are only ones that are centered around the League’s largest event of the year and it happens every year no matter where the Super Bowl is. The NFL is doing their part to be sustainable – how can you do yours?