Dive Brief:
- The 2024 Super Bowl and its host, Allegiant Stadium, was powered by 100% renewable, carbon-free energy for the first time in history, according to a Friday news release.
- The achievement came via a 25-year energy supply agreement the Las Vegas Raiders signed with NV Energy for the 65,000-seat stadium, the Raiders’ administrative facilities and its Henderson, Nevada, practice facility that took effect in October 2023. The Raiders have also engaged carbon accounting firm NZero to independently monitor and track emissions in real time.
- "This achievement marks a new era for sustainability in sports, but it would not be possible without a firm handle on our emissions and energy data alongside a decarbonization roadmap,” Sandra Douglass Morgan, president of the Las Vegas Raiders, said in the release.
Dive Insight:
The Raiders organization was already working to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions prior to this agreement: In 2022 it saw a 15% reduction in Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, including direct emissions, emissions from electricity use and waste-related carbon emissions, the release noted. Emissions reductions grew to 30% in 2023 and are projected to increase to 68% in 2024, the release states, which NZero attributes to the organization’s use of renewable energy.
Unlike facilities that can rely on rooftop or other on-site solar systems to meet their renewable energy needs, stadiums like Allegiant require a much greater scale of power, according to Adam Kramer, CEO of NZero.
“Some events may use 5 or 6 megawatts of energy. The Super Bowl is going to use more like 9 megawatts per hour,” Kramer told Facilities Dive, ESG Dive’s sister publication, ahead of the game. To capture that scale, Allegiant and the Raiders facilities relied on a 610,000-panel solar farm installation in the local Nevada desert, CBS News reported.
Kramer noted the importance of verifying that this energy is truly renewable and carbon-free. “For a lot of people, just saying they're doing the right thing isn't enough. They want proof that they're doing the right thing.”
The Super Bowl also benefitted from Allegiant Stadium’s waste diversion program. Since 2022, the program has avoided emissions equivalent to taking 75,777 cars off the road during each four-hour game time, according to NZero’s calculations. Allegiant is also just one of seven stadiums to be awarded the LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, Kramer said.
Kramer noted that while the spotlight may have been on Sunday’s big game, the Raiders’ agreements ensure that the stadium and associated facilities are always run on 100% carbon-free energy, whether it’s game day or not.
“They have electricity usage going on all the time. They host college football [and] the NFL, but then they have Taylor Swift concerts or other big events that are going on there,” Kramer said. “The Super Bowl is just another event at the stadium that is being powered by 100% carbon-free energy.”
