Since it is football season, which is time of the year where so many Americans minds are dominated by each week’s game more than any other world concern, I thought it would be interesting to look into what type of programs the largest professional sporting organization, the National Football League, does to protect their reputation and image with environmental concerns. I did not know when I first thought of this idea if in fact the NFL did have such programs, but just assumed they must as just about every big business seems to have some sort of “green” program since the movement took such a strong hold a few years back. It is still up for debate how much many programs actually do, or if they are just a device to protect a public image.

The NFL Scores with Clean Energy

• http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/communityTypically when I think of these initiatives I think how many of these environmental programs center on planting some trees or setting up recycling programs. While this is a step forward from what these business might have been doing prior, it often seems like a environmental centered PR campaign enables a distraction from other potentially far worse environmental concerns a organization might be involved in.  After the recent discussion in class which exposed some of the hypocrisy found within car advertisements, I was very curious what media the NFL would be putting out in regards to the green movement and if any of the same hypocrisy would be found. Therefore I decided to investigate the NFL environmental program I assumed existed and see if the ideas and terms presented in class can help shed light on the NFL’s environmental undertakings.  Not to my surprise there was a vibrant and very active environmental program within the NFL. A good place to start this discussion on the Green Movement within sports and the NFL is by viewing the above video and looking over the “Environmental Program” section of the NFL most major current green project, the Superbowl.

  Interestingly the NFL is actually 32 separate and privately owned business, and each team must have its own unique approach to environmental concerns. Last year, EnergyNOW.com put out the above video which illustrates how many of these companies are meeting the public’s demand to go “green”, and that is largely by providing “clean” game day energy generated by solar panels. What I found striking is how in the beginning of the video it is said this movement towards clean energy will reduce the energy costs of the NFL teams by over a million dollars. It raises the question if these programs were enacted because of the cost effective aspect,  and makes me wonder if these teams still be so dedicated towards green energy if it did not provide millions in saved dollars. Next it was interesting how without even an attempt on my part, this NFL green movement was linked toward a green car, in this case the same Pruis model that was already examined in class. The player interviewed that drove the Prius took pride in driving his green car, and it could almost be seen how the message we discussed in class, that of feeling good by driving a green car was expressed fully in this player. This raises again the question if these “green” movements being established by the NFL are ecocentric, or if at the core the motives of the NFL companies are more anthropocentric in nature.  I also want to make an important note that I do think these type of programs are good and even if they are possibly created for reasons not publically said like saving money or public image, there is still something positive and it is a step forward when compared to companies that have not installed any “green” programs whatsoever. This being said, I do think it is important to be critical of said programs and always ask why (or if) more is not being done by those with so much power and influence.

  Finally, I thought it would be fun to examine the statement released by the NFL of the intent of the NFL’s Superbowl environmental program. I will use Lawrence Buells checklist to see if it can be determined if this programs goals are an environmental text. It is not literature, but by using this checklist it still can provide insight into if the aim of this singular piece seemed to be centered towards “environmentalism”. Before I begin that analysis though, it was interesting to me that the main focus of the NFL organizations environmental program at large is the Superbowl. I may be overly critical, but it seems like a logical idea to center all green efforts towards a world stage. It is only fair to note then that the NFL is said to be making programs that plant trees in Indianapolis after the game is done, but it seems very opportune from a PR standpoint to focus the whole green movement campaign towards a singular game that draws in so much money. It does seem though that the programs being established for the game to be very progressive, as even going as far to counterbalance the emissions of all the extra travel into that city for the weekend, but it still begs the question for myself of why this isn’t done in every city from a organization that is making their owners billions in profit. I also found it very amusing how recycling kids football equipment found itself into the environmental program. Kids and recycling seem to be key words focused on by this environmental program and mirror the Sunchips commercial viewed in class that exploited our general love for children in a similar manner. I personally do not find this as something that should be part of a environmental program. “  Sports Equipment and Book Donation Project- The Super Kids-Super Sharing Sports Equipment and Book Donation project was developed in partnership with the Arizona Cardinals, the NFL Youth Education Town (YET) and more than 50 schools in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Students will bring usable items to their schools in January. These items will be collected and donated to schools and youth organizations throughout the area”. Again a good cause, but in my opinion stretches the definition of environment, yet is a great example of how loosely that word can be used.

  Finally a look at their statement towards environmental programs and policy for the 2012/13 Suberbowl year will happen. I will go through each checkpoint and see if I can find anything that fits this description. For the first aspect and from all other outside sources I have seen, environment is never outside just a setting within their environmental policy and never takes on a presence. Next for non human interest, it seems to be few and far between but it could be argued that the policy having considerations for all emissions is a interest towards our green house, but outside of that all interests are very human centered, save if you consider planting new trees a interest in nature, yet here seems to be more a interest in aesthetics as it is a “urban” tree project.  Next for human accountability, it seems with anything of the green movement there is a sort of human accountability, but it would be argued by me that these programs and policies do not go far enough. These programs will never make accountable anything outside of what is a financial interest, meaning the NFL will not stop Pepsi from sponsoring their games even if Pepsi is known to have bad environmental practices, like how many drink companies such as Pepsi are mass producing cost effective plastic bottles that do not break down as easy as some alternatives. Finally the checkpoint of environment as a process, is differently up for debate, but since this is the 18^th year of the NFL has had an environmental program, it could be argued this is a continual ongoing program and is an ongoing process for this league to help lessen their impact on our planet. It is unclear how policy and programs can apply Buell’s checklist for a piece of environmental literature, but I do think it provides some insight into how anthropocentric many of these “green” programs truly are.