Exact numbers aren’t in yet, but Super Bowl XLIV reportedly brought in close to 100 million American viewers last night. Worldwide that numbers is obviously even bigger. With so many eyeballs tuned in, many companies love to use the high ratings as an opportunity to promote their green message to the world – which GE and Audi did. Audi’s commercial for the ‘green police’ has the environmental world all abuzz this morning as it’s not quite clear if they were using the spot as greenwashing or just to poke fun at the eco-nuts out there. If you haven’t seen the commercial click here. Although I assume it was meant as a tongue-and-cheek spot, many are claiming this is not too far off from what the future holds with the McGuinty government – and to a larger scale, the Obama governments ‘green dream’ agenda.
Far fetched? Maybe. We’ll see.
With all these companies spending millions of dollars for a 30 sec chance to promote their green message, I started to wonder, in general, how green is the Super Bowl? Overpriced green ads aside, what is the environmental impact of such a massive event? Does the NFL take any steps towards sustainability or countering the effects this event has on the earth and the cities who host it?
Let’s take a quick look at some of the figures.
As far as the stadium and those in attendance for the big day….there are 20,000 parking spaces available e.g. a potential for 20,000 vehicles. The EPA estimates there is about 19.4 pounds of CO2 emitted for every gallon of gasoline burned. Even if each car only drove 20 miles to get there, that would still be over 7 million pounds or over 3500 tons of CO2 emissions. (NOTE: That doesn’t factor in trucks used to bring in food, supplies or any other CO2 emissions generated during game day preparations.)
(Via Biofriendly Blog)
Well, luckily the NFL has been proactive and created the NFL Environmental Program. The NFL EP is a series of local initiatives designed to address environmental impacts associated with the production of Super Bowl XLIV. Its projects are designed, wherever possible, to leave a tangible benefit to the local host community. All projects are developed in partnership with the local South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee and with a number of national, regional and local organizations using local resources.
So do they promote alternative transportation to help lower emissions during the event?
According to John Groh, Program Director for the NFL’s Environment Program, they DO NOT promote alternative transportation…they provide it. Read More…
















.png)





