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How is APTIM Celebrating This Year’s Green Sports Day?

Green Sports Day is spearheaded by the Green Sports Alliance (GSA), an environmentally-focused trade organization, of which APTIM is a Play to Zero partner.

Meredith McCurdy leads APTIM’s Sustainable Sport Index, bringing expertise in sports marketing, sponsorship, and global events with a focus on developing the business case for sustainability.THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTOR:
Meredith McCurdy | Marketing Strategy Director
APTIM | Sustainable Sport Index
Meredith.Mccurdy@APTIM.com

Meredith McCurdy leads APTIM’s Sustainable Sport Index, bringing expertise in sports marketing, sponsorship, and global events with a focus on developing the business case for sustainability.

Green Sports Day, celebrated annually on Oct. 6, is a celebration by the global sports community to increase awareness of climate change, empower action, and honor the progress and positive impact of sports on the planet.

To celebrate Green Sports Day, APTIM shared our commitments to decrease our 2022 carbon footprint in half by 2030 and eliminate single-use plastics in offices. We also adjusted the release of our 2023 Sustainable Sport Index (SSI) Benchmarking Report to Oct. 6 to join in the fun and share how venues and teams can create a more sustainable future in sports.

In just its third year, SSI experienced a growth spurt, thanks in part to GSA’s promotion. In 2023, SSI engaged 64 percent more collegiate and professional venues across North America than in 2022. Of our 41 participants, 14 are celebrating a “three-peat,” having participated in all three years of SSI.

Which Sustainability Practices Had a Home Run This Year?

  • Dedicated sustainability positions are on the rise. The number of venues with a dedicated environmental sustainability position on staff has more than doubled in the past year.
  • Increased sponsorship revenue is a recognized benefit of sustainability practices. Sixty-four percent of venues reported that sponsorship revenue has increased ‘somewhat’ or ‘a lot’ because of sustainability programs, compared to 47 percent last year.
  • LED sport lighting is now common practice. Eighty percent of venues now have energy efficient LED sport lighting, demonstrating the market transformation that has occurred since the early 2010s.

Where Did We Strike Out?

  • Venues and teams are lagging in public ESG or sustainability reporting. Only eight percent of venues produce a public report. By comparison, 96 percent of S&P 500 companies voluntarily publish ESG reports.
  • A venue cannot measure, manage, or change what is not tracked. Sixty-one percent of venues are not tracking any kind of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and 45 percent do not plan to set any GHG reduction goals in the next two years.
  • Venues are not prepared to mitigate potential climate-related disasters. While 45 percent of venues have considered at least one climate-related risk, only eight percent have a climate adaptation plan for their venue.

How Can You Contribute to Green Sports Day and the Future of Sustainable Sports?

  • Read the SSI Benchmarking Report. SSI includes data, best practices, tips, and resources to kickstart or re-energize a sport venue’s sustainability journey. Topics in the report span from waste and energy usage to fan engagement to environmental resilience, so you are certain to learn something new!
  • Spread the word and recruit more professional, minor league, and collegiate venues to participate in the survey. SSI is an annual survey that will open in summer 2024. Participating venues also receive a confidential, custom report comparing their responses to the aggregated data, providing a mini gap analysis and suggestions for performance improvement. The more participation we have, the better the data and report will be. Both the survey and reports are at no cost.
  • Reach out to us to get started on making sustainable change. We are happy to help point you toward tracking tools and resources, support peer collaboration, and contribute subject matter expertise in any discipline covered in the report. Our expertise includes:

Download the 2023 SSI Benchmarking Report, available at no cost.
To learn more about SSI, visit our service page or reach out to play@sustainablesportindex.com.

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