From sport facilities and events to fan behavior: The next frontier of sustainable sport

This paper reviews the development of environmental sustainability research in sport operations and identifies future priorities for researchers and practitioners seeking to reduce the environmental impacts of sport. Climate change increasingly threatens sport through extreme temperatures, poor air quality, and disruptions to facilities and events, while sport itself contributes substantially to environmental degradation. This paper is important because it synthesizes research across facility operations, strategic sustainability management, and environmental communication, arguing that these dimensions must be addressed together rather than separately.

This conceptual review synthesizes existing literature and examines prior research on environmental impacts, sustainability strategies, climate adaptation, fan engagement, and environmental communication to identify major themes, practical challenges, and future research directions. It highlights that many sport organizations still struggle to implement effective sustainability initiatives because practitioners often lack expertise, environmental performance data, organizational support, and long-term strategic planning. It also shows that environmental communication and sustainability campaigns can positively influence fan behaviors and engagement, although organizations face growing risks of greenwashing if sustainability claims are overstated or poorly substantiated.

The authors argue that sport organizations should adopt more integrated sustainability strategies combining environmental assessment, operational improvements, climate adaptation, and authentic stakeholder communication. They also emphasize the importance of stronger collaboration between researchers and practitioners to improve data collection, strategic planning, and the practical implementation of sustainability initiatives across sport facilities and events.

CITE: McCullough, B., Dietrich, A., Rocha, R., & Bae, Y. (2023). Environmental sustainability research and future directions for events and facilities: an assessment of the field. Journal of applied sport management, 15(4), 4. DOI: 10.7290/jasm-2023-V15-I4-rfm0