A wall of solar collectors over a sea of green football jerseys when people were recently submitted for a home game Eagles in Philadelphia in Lincoln Financial Field. Inside, some fans took photos with an oversized Lombard trophy made of recycled plastic, which were collected from the stadium, while others strolled to their seats with drinks in recyclable aluminum cups.
“These are really nice cups,” said Tre Simon, a fan who was impressed how cold the aluminum cup kept his drink. “Keep it up … I think it's perfect.”
The stadium staff sorts the recycling bag manually and a compactor on site crushes aluminum so that the metal can be sold to recycling. The LINC recycled 18 tons of aluminum in 2024 and invested the money in the sustainability program of the stadium.
The event location belongs to several NFL stadiums, including in Atlanta and Santa Clara, which have made progress in reducing their CO2 footprints by installing solar collectors and creating composting and recycling programs. The power supply of jumbootons, light lights and air conditioning systems requires enormous amounts of energy that can burden the environment. Experts said the movements were a step in the right direction and encourage fans of the most viewed sport in the USA to try similar approaches at home.
“You always want to have a team that is good for the environment and the community,” said Brendan Gee, an Eagles fan at another home game.
“Why not recycle when you can, and solar modules are pretty cool, I think,” said Jakub Dzafic, another Eagles fan that added:
Solar modules and energy loans
Lincoln Financial Field is considered a leader in the sustainability of the event location. The solar collectors produce around 40% of the energy of the stadium annually, and renewable energies are bought to compensate for the rest, said Norman Vossschulte, the Vice President of Fan Experience and Sustainability of the Eagles.
“We hope that our fans inspire our efforts to do the same and take some of their own actions. If we all do something, I think it would make a big difference,” said Vossschulte.
Large sporting events can create a lot of waste and consume enormous amounts of energy. When asked whether a stadium can ever really be sustainable, Tony Lamanna, professor of construction management at Arizona State University, said “all counters”.
“I don't think you have to be zero to get an effect,” he said.
According to Lamanna, the sustainability of the stadium includes both the way the venue reduces its own footprint and how it influences the habits of the fans.
“If you can model the right actions to the 80,000 fans or how many you have in your stadium, you think of the effects,” he said.
Keep out the waste of landfills
The Mercedes-Benz Stadium, in which the falcons in Atlanta Heimat were, was the first professional sports stadium International, which achieved total resource use and efficiency platinum certification for the redirection of 90% or more waste of landfills.
“I would say that 98% of what you can get out of a concessions or sales point are compostable,” said Adam Fullerton, the Vice President of the Stadium.
The stadium has a garden in which fruits and vegetables are used by the culinary team, a 680,000-gallon center (2,574,080 liters), which collects rainwater that are used for irrigation and 4,000 solar collectors. In games, fans who discover recycling can be presented on the stadium video board and win a signed jersey. According to Fullerton, fans are looking for the sustainability team in the hope of being discovered.
“Start small and at least start something,” says Fullerton's advice for venues that are interested in becoming more sustainable.
He said it costs about 10 cents per fan that take part in events to carry out the zero -WASTE program.
“It's pretty cheap in the big scheme of things,” he said.
Waste created by tailgating outside the stadium remains a challenge, since the parking spaces can be located outside the framework of the stadium's waste management program. “It is really difficult to control what a fan brings with you” to a tailgate, said Fullerton.
Fan can practice sustainability and minimize tailgate waste by packing food and drinks in reusable containers and placing all waste and recycling materials in their corresponding containers, taking public transits and adapting home thermostats when they go to save energy and money.
How sustainable marketing can lead to changes in behavior
The visibility of stadium sustainability initiatives leads to a feeling of group identity and increases the likelihood that fans will accept this way of thinking as their own, said Karen Winterich, professor of sustainability and marketing at Pennsylvania State University.
“A big deal that we know about any kind of change in behavior, and this includes sustainable behaviors, is that consumers are really motivated by identity, social norms and social prints,” she said. If everyone puts their can in a stadium recycling container, this increases the chances that he will do this at home.
Climate change and renewable energies, especially solar and wind, are topics that are strongly politicized. “I think it's really strategic for the NFL … You talk about the advantages about it, but not in a polarizing way,” said Winterich. She said that a strategy that often works to get people with sustainability on board, the advantages of energy consumption on site and the question of how the local environment benefits from less pollution, composting and recycling.
NFL Green, the sustainability program of the league, aims to “leave a green legacy in the communities we visit”, said Anna Isaacson, Senior Vice President of social responsibility for the league. For important events such as the Super Bowl, the NFL Green Feedback meetings in the community, which inspired efforts like the league, are organizing a project in Louisiana financially in which the Super Bowl 2025 took place.
The next Super Bowl takes place at the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Some of the sustainable initiatives of the stadium include 1,162 solar collectors, a roof garden that results in around £ 10,000 plants annually, as well as recycling and composting 70% of all materials.
“The Bay Area is our home and it is a unique place with countless natural beauty. So our goal is to keep our community clean not only for the moment, but for the future,” said Francine Melendez Hughes, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Levis Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.
Bad Bunny will lead the Super Bowl LX half -time show on February 8, 2026 at the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, said the NFL.
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