Hoop Dreams: The NBA and Sustainability

When people think of basketball, they think of the NBA, the WNBA, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, March Madness and California native Monique Billings, ranked No. 25 and beyond for the Los Angeles Sparks, to name a few. While sustainability isn’t the first word that comes to mind when you think of the game, it is something that is creeping into the NBA’s vocabulary as well as their messaging. This month marks the first anniversary of one of their newest environmental programs: their Arena Sustainability Task Force, launched in April 2023, aims to reduce waste, increase recycling and conserve energy in their arenas. It is also notable and commendable that there is a scientist leading their overall sustainability strategy and not a marketing manager.

Meet Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, the environmental scientist behind their efforts. He realized that the NBA could reach more people than just the scientific community. According to Dr. Herskowitz, less than 20% of adults in the United States follow science, while more than 80% follow sports. So when former NBA commissioner David Stern and player programs chairman Kathy Behrens contacted Dr. Herskowitz in helping them get the NBA on the path to sustainability, he didn’t hesitate. Making visual changes was critical: “If we placed compost bins and recycling bins in the halls of the venues, fans understood that we were committed to environmental responsibility,” Hershkowitz said.

Now 10 arenas are certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system, an internationally recognized standard for sustainability, meaning the arenas are specifically designed to be energy efficient. The league has an eco-friendly academy in Senegal and a recycled glass court in Spain. NBA teams – the Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings all participate in various Earth Day activations each year and the Miami Heat participate in the Beach Sweep on North Miami Beach to clean up trash.

With sales of $10.58 billion in the 2022-2023 season alone, it’s easy to dismiss this kind of growing commitment to sustainability with some cynicism, but there have been successes that go beyond just clever “green” messaging.

Some sustainability success

The NBA has succeeded in reducing the environment iThe impact of their team travels by

changing the way they schedule games to limit the number of times teams criss-cross the country. For example, traveling teams will often play the Heat and the Magic, teams both based in Florida, on the same trip, rather than flying twice. The same goes for the two teams from LA, the Clippers and the Lakers, and the Nets and Knicks in New York. This way, the NBA can reduce their carbon footprint and have a much better chance of halving it by 2030, which is their stated goal. For the 2022-2023 season, the NBA has reduced its annual total mileage by 50,000 miles. While it’s not enough to save the planet, it’s a start!

That’s good, because reducing their carbon footprint is also one of the goals they signed up for when the NBA signed the United Nations Climate Change Convention’s Sports for Climate Change Framework (UNCCC).

What is that?

The United Nations introduced the Sports for Climate Change Framework in December 2018, and it has five core principles that every team and league must follow when they sign up: understanding systematic efforts to promote greater environmental responsibility, the reduce overall climate impact, educate on climate action, promote sustainability and responsible consumption, and advocate for climate action through communications.

In addition to reducing their carbon footprint through smart game planning, the NBA has also reduced the use of plastic bottles in their offices by 80%. They are now actively conducting a thorough review of all competition events to find out how they can work with their various partners to reduce impact and offset unavoidable carbon emissions.

What about the fans?

The NBA has some of the most famously rabid fans in sports, so can they leverage this loyalty to change fan behavior when it comes to sustainability? The NBA is trying to use their platform to educate their fans through NBA GREEN, which raises awareness about the importance of doing right for the planet.

If they can communicate their ‘green message’ well, they have the ability to attract a lot of attention worldwide. So it is clear why the UN has a sports strategy and wanted the NBA to join it. As of May 2019, the NBA league had 150 million followers across all social platforms and 1 billion people around the world watched the NBA Finals. It is the most popular sports league in China, where 300 million people actively play basketball.

As of April 2023, the league had 32 billion video views across all NBA and NBA-related accounts. With international followers making up more than 70% of the NBA’s social media following, half of their audience is 25 or younger. They even have K-pop star SUGA as an NBA ambassador!

It’s clear that the NBA is actively targeting their younger audience and going green could be appealing to that same demographic. We hope they succeed in turning their fans into green activists – that’s hoping!