Creating more sustainable sporting events
In an effort to make Paris 2024 the most sustainable Olympic Games ever, the IOC and the Paris Organizing Committee have worked diligently to reduce CO2 emissions. They committed to cut carbon emissions in half compared to previous Games.
Rather than build loads of new venues, over 95% of the infrastructure is either pre-existing or temporary. 80% of the food served at the Games is sourced from France, to minimize the shipping and storage needed to feed the 13 million athletes, spectators, journalists and employees expected. There are no disposable plates, silverware or cups allowed in the Olympic Village.
This level of attention to sustainability in sports is unprecedented, but is it enough? What about the lights? The carbon cost of spectators traveling to and around the event? The concessions sold within the venues?
Is there a way to make large sporting events truly sustainable, or will they too become another casualty of climate change? What can we do to address it?
Quantifying the carbon cost of travel
The popularity of major international sporting events like the Olympic games has one major drawback – the carbon cost of travel. Paris 2024 is expected to welcome around ten million spectators for the Olympic Games, and these travelers generate significant amounts of CO2 emissions to attend. A study of the carbon emissions of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France found that 86% of the event’s carbon footprint came from international travel. Transportation between venues within France accounted for another 8%, meaning that travel created a staggering 94% of the event’s total carbon emissions.
Is there a way to make large sporting events truly sustainable? The ultimate answer may be to use digital technology to take the event to the audience, versus the other way around.
Should we close the doors?
So, is the solution to the high carbon cost of travel to simply hold the events without fans? A study of football and rugby matches held in empty stadiums during the COVID-19 pandemic observed a 4% to 5% drop in home advantage when spectators were not present. Emotionally speaking, the roar of the crowd is part of the pageantry and spectacle, but it also has a tangible impact on the competitors themselves.
Apart from that, the viability of major events and the positive economic impacts they bring to the host locale depend on ticket sales, merchandise, hotel stays and food and beverage purchase, among others. With no economic incentive, sporting events would not be financially sustainable — no matter how green they are.
Clearly, we need to strike a balance between the ecological cost of sports and their societal and economic benefits. Let’s take a closer look at how it can be done.
What size is the right size for events?
If banning spectators is not an option, what about limiting attendance to levels that will not exceed the targeted carbon footprint? The IOC has long pushed for more modest venues, but often the local sports federations are the ones looking for maximum capacity. In its quest to right-size its facilities, the Paris 2024 organizers opted to install a temporary pool for Olympic swimming events in an existing arena, rather than build a huge new facility.
Spectator transportation is another powerful lever for reducing the carbon footprint. Since international travel accounts for such a large proportion of an event’s carbon emissions, what about capping the number of international attendees?
Unfortunately, based on the study of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, that may not be feasible. The authors calculated that to meet the commitments of the Paris Agreement, two-thirds of the tickets would need to be allocated to the host country (France) alone, and only 1% of the attendees could travel from outside Europe.
Despite the clear environmental cost of international travel, some international sporting events are still expanding. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will feature 48 teams, up from the 32 that participated in the 2022 edition. Similarly, the Club World Cup is planning to invite football 32 teams in 2025, as compared to just seven teams in 2023.
International air travel is such a problematic hotspot of carbon emissions that if there is truly a desire to make major events sustainable, this unrelenting expansion must stop.
Driving sustainable sport through technology
Some organizers are, however, taking steps to reduce the carbon footprint of sports.
Paris 2024 is the first Olympic Games since 1928 to reduce both the number of events and athletes compared to a previous edition. During the 2024 UEFA Euro football championship held in June and July, Germany reduced train fares for ticket holders traveling between different stadiums in order to incentivize more sustainable transportation options.
Digital technology can also play a role. E-tickets can be purchased through smartphone apps, eliminating paper tickets, easing crowd flows and reducing the number of kiosks required. They can also help out-of-town visitors easily navigate local public transport, and AI and real-time data can dynamically re-route attendees to avoid crowded metro stations or overloaded buses.
IoT technology can monitor lighting conditions and turn on stadium lighting only when (and only as brightly) as needed. A digital decarbonization assessment can use advanced analytics to identify the most carbon-intensive resources and processes in order to run events more sustainably.
Finally, virtual reality and real-time streaming of personalized video and information may soon enable fans to experience the thrill of being in the stadium, no matter where in the world they are. So, perhaps the ultimate answer to creating more sustainable sports competitions is to truly take the event to the audience, versus the other way around. Only time will tell.
At Atos, we have been creating digital solutions for the largest sporting events on the planet for the last 30 years, helping make them safer, more compelling and more sustainable. Learn more about what we have accomplished, and what we’re doing to make Paris 2024 the most sustainable sports competition in history.
Posted on: July 31, 2024
This article was created in collaboration with Usbek & Rica. You can read the original article (in French) at their website.
