An Exploratory Analysis of the Environmental Sustainability Performance Signaling Communications among North American Sport Organizations

Sport organizations across North America promote and claim deep commitments to environmental issues through sustainability performance signaling. These signals are conveyed through external associations or memberships (e.g., Green Sports Alliance) or internally (e.g., environmental reports and commu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Brian P. McCullough, Jamee Pelcher, Sylvia Trendafilova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-03-01
Series:Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/5/1950
Description
Summary:Sport organizations across North America promote and claim deep commitments to environmental issues through sustainability performance signaling. These signals are conveyed through external associations or memberships (e.g., Green Sports Alliance) or internally (e.g., environmental reports and communications). However, researchers have not explored this communication strategy as it relates to environmental initiatives in sport nor compared environmental communications of sport organizations from the major professional sport leagues in North America. We analyzed the websites of 147 North American sport organizations and their associated venue websites for environmental performance signaling communications. We found that only one sport organization featured an environmental report on its website, and 42 sport organizations highlighted environmental initiatives through dedicated webpages on the respective team or venue’s website. Predominately, these communications focused on fan engagement initiatives (i.e., awareness, participation) but lacked goal setting, measurement metrics, or performance summaries. We discuss these themes, the implications, and recommendations for how sustainability performance signaling can be better leveraged in the North American sport sector.
ISSN:2071-1050