Super Bowl 59: How Sustainable is the NFL?

More than 120 million viewers tuned in for Super Bowl LVIII in 2024, making it one of the most watched television broadcasts ever.
Each year, there are 272 games over its 18 week season that draw an average attendance of nearly 70,000 fans.
The NFL is the world’s most valuable sports league with its 32 teams collectively worth US$289bn.
It also emits more CO₂ than any other major US sports league and generates enormous volumes of waste – food, textile decorations and beverage containers just to name a few.
The league is making an effort to mitigate its negative sustainability impact across the US with a wide range of initiatives from using green energy to recycling e-waste.
“As a league, we are not only committed to delivering the best sports and entertainment to our incredible fans, but to using football to build a better world for all of us,” said Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the NFL, in its 2023 Social Responsibility Report.
What happens to food waste from NFL events?
Nachos, cheeseburgers and hot dogs are some of the foods of choice at football games, but when feeding up to 100,000 fans it is not easy to be sustainable.
The league’s environmental programme, NFL Green, partners with local food banks and event managers to donate unserved food to help those in need.
Items it donates include prepared, unserved food and packaged snacks and beverages.
In 2020, nearly 16,000kg of leftover food from Super Bowl LIV was saved and donated to local shelters in Miami.
More than 67,000 fans’ waste was 91% recovered from Super Bowl LII in 2018 as part of a zero waste legacy project in partnership with PepsiCo, Aramark, US Bank Stadium, SMG and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority.
"The zero-waste legacy project is a testament to teamwork, with multiple partners coming together to achieve an ambitious environmental goal," said Director of NFL Green, Jack Groh.
"The NFL is proud that this program was not only successful at Super Bowl LII, but will also serve as a permanent installation at the stadium and leave a lasting impact on the community."
How the NFL is greening communities
NFL Green has incorporated community greening projects throughout the organisation through working closely with local organisations and parks and recreation departments.
Projects for these initiatives include planting trees, supporting green spaces where children can play, creating community gardens, restoring habitats and engaging in reforestation projects.
Funding for these initiatives come from the NFL, NFL sponsors, local event host committees and from local grant recipients who provide a match for each greening project grant.
In 2025, glass recycled on Super Bowl LIX game day will be used to create sand for coastal erosion in Southern Louisiana, adding to NFL Green’s efforts to restore coastal erosion through collecting and repurposing more than 50 tonnes of oyster shells.
Super Bowl LIX will also see NFL support for Caesar’s Superdrome to implement new recycling procedures that can be used at future events.
What is the Super Bowl E-waste Event?
Each year, NFL Green works with NFL sponsor Verizon to support responsible recycling of e-waste.
Just before each Super Bowl, a one-day event is held in partnership with local zoos to encourage residents of the area to drop off e-waste for recycling.
Recycling e-waste recaptures valuable minerals from electronic items that are no longer needed.
The event is run and paid for by Verizon which has a history of supporting e-waste reduction initiatives and reused or recycled around 20 million kilograms in 2023.
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