IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rsmrxx/v18y2015i2p244-255.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reducing the carbon footprint of spectator and team travel at the University of British Columbia's varsity sports events

Author

Listed:
  • Matt Dolf
  • Paul Teehan

Abstract

•We examine the carbon footprint of travel for small-scale varsity sports events.•We apply an LCA-based carbon footprint approach to refine methodology for events.•Car occupancy rates for event spectators were higher than industry average rates.•4% of out-of-town spectators constituted 52% of total spectator footprint.•Targeting long distance travel is the most effective way to reduce GHG emissions.The carbon footprint of spectator and team travel was analyzed at small-scale varsity sports events held at the University of British Columbia. Sport management literature suggests a need for quantitative environmental impact studies of events, in particular to seek out transport footprint reduction opportunities. This study applies a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based approach to increase methodological rigour and transparency. We analyze travel patterns of spectators and teams and put forward several scenarios for impact reduction. Results show that UBC spectators had a smaller footprint than teams on a per person basis but a larger overall carbon footprint. Although only 4% of the spectators travelled by air, this constituted 52% of total spectator impact. We find the biggest opportunities for footprint reductions by spectators and teams alike are strategies that (a) reduce long-distance air travel, (b) increase vehicle occupancy rates, and (c) encourage low-emission travel mode choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Matt Dolf & Paul Teehan, 2015. "Reducing the carbon footprint of spectator and team travel at the University of British Columbia's varsity sports events," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 244-255, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rsmrxx:v:18:y:2015:i:2:p:244-255
    DOI: 10.1016/j.smr.2014.06.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1016/j.smr.2014.06.003
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.smr.2014.06.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tim F. Thormann & Pamela Wicker, 2024. "Environmentally-Friendly Stadium Travel of Football Fans: A Stated Preferences Study," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 25(1), pages 3-29, January.
    2. Dalia Perkumienė & Ahmet Atalay & Biruta Švagždienė, 2023. "Carbon Footprint Stemming from Ice Sports on the Turkey and Lithuanian Scale," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-18, February.
    3. Yiwen Xu & Ying Wang & Yang Yang, 2024. "The Impact of Air Pollution on Game Outcome," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 25(5), pages 557-582, June.
    4. Wicker, Pamela, 2019. "The carbon footprint of active sport participants," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 513-526.
    5. Brian P. McCullough & Jonathan C. Casper & Danielle M. Kushner Smith, 2022. "Fan Responses of Sponsored Environmental Sustainability Initiatives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, October.
    6. Lidia Piccerillo & Francesco Misiti & Simone Digennaro, 2023. "Assessing the Environmental Impact of a University Sport Event: The Case of the 75th Italian National University Championships," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-14, January.
    7. Federico Pasquaré Mariotto & Fabio Luca Bonali & Alessandro Tibaldi & Emanuela De Beni & Noemi Corti & Elena Russo & Luca Fallati & Massimo Cantarero & Marco Neri, 2022. "A New Way to Explore Volcanic Areas: QR-Code-Based Virtual Geotrail at Mt. Etna Volcano, Italy," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, March.
    8. Yina Zhang & Wu Zhao & Haiman Liu, 2024. "Effect of Digital Transformation in Sports Companies on Green Innovation: Evidence from Listed Companies in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-31, September.
    9. Orr, Madeleine & Inoue, Yuhei, 2019. "Sport versus climate: Introducing the climate vulnerability of sport organizations framework," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 452-463.
    10. Pérez-Neira, David & Rodríguez-Fernández, Ma Pilar & Hidalgo-González, Cristina, 2020. "The greenhouse gas mitigation potential of university commuting: A case study of the University of León (Spain)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    11. Guillermo Morán-Gámez & Antonio Fernández-Martínez & Román Nuviala & Alberto Nuviala, 2024. "Influence of green practices on user loyalty in sport clubs," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    12. Brian P. McCullough & Andrea Collins & Jack Roberts & Shelley Villalobos, 2023. "Sport Events and Emissions Reporting: An Analysis of the Council for Responsible Sport Standard in Running Events," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-12, September.
    13. Manav Khanna & Tiberio Daddi & Federico Merlo & Fabio Iraldo, 2024. "An Assessment on the Carbon Footprint of a Football Club—an Action Research from Theory to Practice," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1587-1612, June.
    14. Clément Auger & Benoit Hilloulin & Benjamin Boisserie & Maël Thomas & Quentin Guignard & Emmanuel Rozière, 2021. "Open-Source Carbon Footprint Estimator: Development and University Declination," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-15, April.
    15. Jonathan M. Casper & Brian P. McCullough & Danielle M. Kushner Smith, 2021. "Pro-Environmental Sustainability and Political Affiliation: An Examination of USA College Sport Sustainability Efforts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-17, May.
    16. Ricardo Roseira Cayolla & Joana A. Quintela & Teresa Santos, 2023. "Analysis of Travel Behaviour of Professional Sports Organisation Members to the Stadium: Future Implications for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-14, April.
    17. Laurent Castaignède & Frederic Veny & Johnathan Edwards & Véronique Billat, 2021. "The Carbon Footprint of Marathon Runners: Training and Racing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-10, March.
    18. Sartore-Baldwin, Melanie L. & McCullough, Brian, 2018. "Equity-based sustainability and ecocentric management: Creating more ecologically just sport organization practices," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 391-402.
    19. Ricardo Roseira Cayolla & Teresa Santos & Joana A. Quintela, 2021. "Sustainable Initiatives in Sports Organizations—Analysis of a Group of Stakeholders in Pandemic Times," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    20. Ricardo Roseira Cayolla & Joana A. Quintela & Teresa Santos, 2022. "“If You Don’t Know Me by Now”—The Importance of Sustainability Initiative Awareness for Stakeholders of Professional Sports Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, April.
    21. Casper, Jonathan M. & McCullough, Brian P. & Pfahl, Michael E., 2020. "Examining environmental fan engagement initiatives through values and norms with intercollegiate sport fans," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 348-360.
    22. Stavros Triantafyllidis & Robert J. Ries & Kyriaki (Kiki) Kaplanidou, 2018. "Carbon Dioxide Emissions of Spectators’ Transportation in Collegiate Sporting Events: Comparing On-Campus and Off-Campus Stadium Locations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, January.
    23. Jakub Ryszard Stempień & Magdalena Dąbkowska-Dworniak & Małgorzata Stańczyk & Marcin Tkaczyk & Bartłomiej Przybylski, 2022. "Particular Dimensions of the Social Impact of Leisure Running: Study of Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-17, September.
    24. Zihao Zhou & Shanlang Lin & Jianfeng Shi & Junpei Huang & Xiaoxin Han, 2024. "Can Mega Sporting Events Promote Urban Green Transformation? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-18, July.
    25. Christine Costello & Ronald G. McGarvey & Esma Birisci, 2017. "Achieving Sustainability beyond Zero Waste: A Case Study from a College Football Stadium," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-20, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rsmrxx:v:18:y:2015:i:2:p:244-255. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/rsmr .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.