In the last few years, major teams have had to handle the repercussions of climate change, and the costs are quickly adding up.
Extreme storms, flooding, wildfire heat and smoke are causing unprecedented problems for sports teams.
Soon, these problems could affect the rest of the economy.
In just Florida, the sports industry brings in $57.4 billion. The Florida Sports Foundation states that 580,000 jobs in the state are from the sports industry.
Today, the sports industry includes 10 professional teams, 26 minor league teams and 60 different college programs.
Because of climate change, the Miami Dolphins football team has already had to move a game.
On Super Bowl Sunday, the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami will bring in 65,000 fans. While the stadium may be able to host the Super Bowl this year, climate change may eventually force this stadium to close its doors completely.
Across the nation, other teams are grappling with the fallout of climate change as flooding, wildfires and extreme storms threaten stadiums in many states.
This year, the Miami Dolphins have had to delay more games because of lightning strikes. It recently had the longest game in the history of the National Football League (NFL) because of lightning delays.
The stadium is currently going through more lightning strikes than it has experienced in more than 30 years.
In 2017, the Dolphins spent $500 million on renovations. Then, Hurricane Irma hit. In 2018, rainfall made the field flood during a college game.
Unfortunately, the Miami Dolphins are not the only professional team that is affected by climate change. The Miami Heat’s American Airlines Arena sits directly on Miami’s Biscayne Bay.
Once sea levels rise by just two feet, the Arena will flood. Scientists expect the sea level to rise by two feet in just 20 years or less. Hard Rock Stadium will deal with flooding after the sea level increases by three feet.
In Michigan, Western Michigan University’s stadium was transformed into a gigantic swimming pool during record rainfall last June.
In California, the Padres’ Petco Park ended up flooding in 2017.
Iowa’s minor league stadium in Davenport became an island because of overflowing rivers last May.
Across the United States, every professional sports venue, arena and stadium will be affected by climate change.
Storm surges, wildfires, hurricanes, droughts and record rainfall will affect sports venues everywhere.
The New York Yankees even hired an environmental science advisor to help them handle the repercussions of climate change.
The same adviser also works with the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and the U.S. Tennis Association.
In 2005, former Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig developed the Commissioner’s Initiative on Sustainable Ballpark Operations.
This program was designed to focus on environmental stewardship and reducing the carbon footprint of ballparks across the country. After the creation of the program, other professional sports leagues followed suit.
Because of these programs, the sports industry is actually one of the industries that is most aggressive about becoming eco-friendly. As a part of these efforts, the Dolphins have eliminated single-use plastics at the stadium.
Meanwhile, the Yankees have invested in a variety of carbon compensation projects.
While there is a lot of political debate around climate change, scientists are in agreement about the danger it poses society.
Sports serve as a great unifier to bring people together. Because of this, the sports industry’s focus on mitigating the effects of climate change has the potential to reach a broad audience and impact the fight against climate change.
