Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena and the New York Islanders' UBS Arena have built in a wide range of features to reduce their carbon footprints

Dave Matthews Band is making efforts to minimize carbon emissions while touring, and Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia, teamed up with the band to make DMB’s Nov. 7 show – and their venue – more sustainable. Enmarket Arena partnered with Green Operations & Advanced Leadership (GOAL) to produce a zero-waste concert, with 90% of waste produced by the show diverted from the landfill.

“We will provide students with environmental data from venues for them to analyze, compete with, and ultimately gain a hands-on understanding of the intersection of sports and sustainability,” offered Kristen Fulmer, OVG’s head of sustainability and director of GOAL.

The Sacramento River Cats and Sutter Health Park have joined a collective of major venues in sports and live entertainment across the globe as a member of the industry-wide GOAL sustainability platform to champion social impact, climate action, and responsible change.

When Dave Matthews Band set out to begin their fall 2023 tour leg at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia, on Nov. 7, they had a mission. They wanted their show to be sustainable, and the 9,500-seat venue was up to the challenge.

Arctos Partners has joined forces with Oak View Group to enhance OVG’s GOAL sustainability program by providing proprietary data, insights and best practices on impact and governance.

GOAL aims to bring “holistic sustainability” to venue operators and touring artists, according to Kristen Fulmer, OVG Head of Sustainability, and director of the GOAL program

Oak View Group, VenuesNow’s parent company, has also made a mission to share its findings and strategies with the industry, through its GOAL – Green Operations & Advanced Leadership, developed by OVG, the Atlanta Hawks, Fenway Sports Group and architect and green building figure Jason McLennan.

Last week’s fourth annual Sport Positive Summit, headlined by GOAL, took place at the Kia Oval cricket ground in London — which drew 500 people in-person and 100+ virtual attendees — offered less Kumbaya, more hard conversations, often featuring new voices from different parts of the world.

The Climate Pledge Arena changed those notions, and a new sustainability standard, GOAL, aims to share its lessons with other venues, large and small. GOAL stands for Green Operations and Advanced Leadership and is a sustainability platform for arenas, stadiums, and other public assembly venues in the sports and entertainment industry.

SUSTAINABILTY IS GOOD BUSINESS: That was one of the messages imparted during a panel discussion entitled “Sustainability: How to Act Locally With Global Impact.”

About 100 people attended last month’s GOAL Invitational in Seattle, where some of those in town for the Green Sports Alliance Summit also made their way to Climate Pledge Arena to hear about practical approaches to making venue operations more environment friendly and how doing so makes good business sense. Oak View Group launched GOAL (Green Operations & Advanced Leadership) in 2022 as a set of tools, resources and standards for sports and entertainment facilities to integrate sustainability anywhere along their journey.

“Sports teams and venues have a platform on the topic of social change, and we have the ability to shine a light on issues that matter in a way that many businesses don’t,” he said. “I think our venue operators are saying ‘Okay, we get it. Now what do we do about it?’”

Best-In-Class Sports/Entertainment Venues and Organizations Commit to Collectively Address Climate Action and Social Impact

“Within the GOAL system, we’re trying to encourage people to survey, do visual assessments periodically. Even just making some educated assumptions goes a long way to measuring what that carbon footprint is - What we haven’t seen as much is that true measurement of carbon footprint."

CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore lowered its carbon footprint through a $200 renovation when compared to what that footprint would have been from new construction

There is no better insurance than to “future proof” our venues by equipping ourselves to better anticipate and prevent threats. A proactive operational approach builds a savvy defense to reduce risk, creates a strong offense against other risks, and also elevates a venues’ reputation, enhancing the staff and visitor experience, and supporting the surrounding community.

The GOAL platform aims to standardize sustainability reporting and processes across some of the US’s largest public gathering spaces — and entice the rest to come aboard.