Sustainable Sport Index
APTIM’s Sustainable Sport Index (SSI) provides sports and entertainment venues with benchmarking insights to evaluate sustainability practices, compare operational priorities, and support strategic planning.
Sports and entertainment venues manage complex operations that extend beyond facility maintenance and fan experience. Venue staff are also responsible for sustainability initiatives related to energy, water, waste, procurement, transportation, sponsorship, and environmental resilience.
SSI provides venue leaders with benchmarking data and operational insights that help organizations evaluate sustainability practices, identify industry trends, and compare priorities with peer facilities across the sports industry.
What Is the Sustainable Sport Index?
SSI is APTIM’s annual benchmarking report for sports leagues and venues. Built from anonymized survey data submitted by participating organizations, SSI evaluates sustainability practices across the operational categories that shape venue planning, performance, communications and reporting, and guest experience.
SSI provides a comprehensive view of how the sports industry is performing with responses from stadiums, arenas, ballparks, and practice facilities.
What the Sustainable Sport Index Analyzes
SSI evaluates a wide array of environmental and social impact categories.
- Sustainability goals, policies & reporting
- Energy & carbon
- Environmental resilience
- Nature & biodiversity
- Water
- Waste management & diversion
- Food & beverage
- Housekeeping & janitorial practices
- Procurement
- Transportation
- Communication & accessibility
- Sponsorship
Together, these categories provide insight into how sports and entertainment venues approach sustainability across operational, financial, fan-facing, and partnership-related functions.
Who Should Use the Report?
SSI is designed for professionals responsible for venue operations, environmental communications and reporting, sustainability performance, and long-term planning.
The report is especially relevant for:
- Sustainability directors & managers
- Facility operations & engineering teams
- Venue executives & department leaders
- Procurement & vendor management teams
- Housekeeping & janitorial operations teams
- Sponsorship & partnership teams
- Communications & accessibility teams
Inside the Latest Report
The latest SSI report highlights how participating sports and entertainment venues address sustainability.
The 2025 report includes:
- Key findings from 70 participating venues
- Category-level insights across SSI survey topics
- Year-over-year sustainability trends & benchmarking context
- The Green Sports Alliance Strategy Playbook
- Venue highlights from participating organizations, including Lumen Field & Soldier Field
Findings from the 2025 report include:
- 32% of participating venues track greenhouse gas emissions
- 58% reported increased sponsorship revenue associated with sustainability initiatives
- 80% use native plants in outdoor landscaped areas
- 85% have LED lighting installed in more than half of venue spaces
Reporting & Confidentiality
SSI findings are reported in aggregated and anonymized formats. Individual venue responses remain confidential to the SSI project team.
This approach allows participating venues to contribute data while providing the broader sports industry with meaningful sustainability benchmarking insights and trend analysis.
Interested in Participating?
Venues that participate in SSI receive a confidential, customized benchmarking report comparing their responses with similar facilities.
Participation is typically led by sustainability or facilities management teams and often includes collaboration across partnerships, procurement, janitorial operations, and other venue functions.
Participation provides organizations with a more detailed understanding of how their venue compares with peer facilities across sustainability initiatives, including categorical rankings.
Our Partners
We respect and collaborate with other organizations sharing our mission of a more sustainable sport industry. The Sustainable Sport Index is a member of the following organizations in sports sustainability.
SSI Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Sustainable Sport Index?
SSI is APTIM’s annual benchmarking report for sports and entertainment venues. The report uses aggregated and anonymized survey data to evaluate sustainability practices across key operational categories.
What Does the Report Analyze?
The report evaluates environmental and social sustainability practices—including sustainability goals, energy and carbon, environmental resilience, nature and biodiversity, water, waste management and diversion, food and beverage, housekeeping and janitorial practices, procurement, transportation, communication and accessibility, and sponsorship.
Who Should Download the Report?
The report is designed for sustainability leaders, facility operations managers, engineering departments, venue executives, procurement professionals, sponsorship teams, and other stakeholders involved in venue operations, sustainability planning, and reporting.
How Can My Venue Use the Report?
Organizations can use the report to evaluate industry trends, compare internal priorities with peer activities, support leadership discussions, and inform planning across operations, communications, procurement, waste, transportation, resilience, and engagement.
Are Individual Venue Responses Public?
No. Individual responses remain confidential to the SSI project team. Findings are reported only in aggregated and anonymized formats.
Is SSI a Certification or Award Program?
No. SSI is a benchmarking report and survey-based industry resource. It should not be described as a certification, compliance audit, award program, or guarantee of performance.
How Can My Venue Participate?
Venues interested in receiving a confidential, customized benchmarking report can visit the Sustainable Sport Index participation page to learn more about survey timing, required inputs, and participation.
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