Green Sports Alliance Announces Strategic Collaboration with Oak View Group

Green Sports Alliance Announces Strategic Collaboration with Oak View Group

PORTLAND, OR. (October 24, 2022)– The Green Sports Alliance (GSA) and Oak View Group (OVG) have entered a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement to better coordinate, support, and accelerate an industry-wide response to climate change.Green Sports Alliance is the world’s foremost environmentally focused sports and entertainment nonprofit trade organization that convenes stakeholders from around the sporting world – including teams, leagues, conferences, venues, corporate partners, governmental agencies, athletes, and fans – to promote healthy, sustainable communities. OVG is the world’s largest developer of new sports and entertainment venues and a trailblazer on the topic of sustainable operations. OVG’s Climate Pledge Arena, home of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and WNBA’s Seattle Storm, is on track to be the world’s first, and only, Carbon Zero Certified arena.The new collaboration will allow both organizations to align their missions, and commit to jointly creating awareness and driving meaningful change toward a more sustainable future.“Leadership, collaboration, commitment, and innovation are critical drivers to realize an equitable, just, and carbon neutral future,” Roger McClendon, executive director, Green Sports Alliance, said. “The Green Sports Alliance is inspired by OVG’s demonstrated climate action and commitment to social and environmental sustainability. We look forward to leveraging the power of sports and entertainment to ensure a better future for the next generation.”The strategic agreement will be comprehensive, reflecting the urgent need for meaningful, coordinated action. Some highlights include:

• Green Sports Alliance Summit – collaboration around the Green Sports Alliance Summit, the largest gathering of climate-minded operators, vendors, and practitioners in the industry. The 2023 Summit will be held at Climate Pledge Arena, winner of the 2022 Sports Business Journal “Facility of the Year Award” and the 2022 Leaders in Sport “Best in Sustainability” award.

• Content Delivery for GOAL – the provision of select Green Sports Alliance case studies, best practices, and ideas into OVG’s new GOAL platform, the comprehensive, tactical sustainability platform for arenas, stadiums, convention centers, and other venues of public assembly.

• Greening Events – strategic partnerships for the onsite “greening” of events, festivals, and fairgrounds on a global basis.

• Connectivity & Collaboration – connections between over 300 OVG360-managed facilities with Green Sports Alliance members, including the robust catalog of vetted vendors and solution providers, with the ultimate mission to further accelerate collaboration, idea sharing, and content development for the benefit of the industry.

Additionally, OVG and GSA will collaborate on high-level data sharing and integration relationships, as well as promotional opportunities, between GOAL and Play to Zero to accelerate meaningful carbon reductions across the sports and entertainment industry through shared insights and shared best practices.“This is not time for business as usual. Climate change is an all-too-urgent public health, social justice, economic, geo-political problem,” Chris Granger, OVG360president, said. “Fortunately, by being intentional, by collaborating, and by taking action, we can make a difference within our industry – and for the planet. Our long-time relationship with Green Sports Alliance and its progressive leaders, who are deeply committed to climate action, will certainly amplify the message to all corners of the industry.”“As an industry, it’s vital that we work to be sustainable in each and every way possible and take the immediate necessary action to fight global warming,” said OVG Chairman and CEO Tim Leiweke. “Climate change is the fight of our lives, and together with Green Sports Alliance, it’s my hope sustainability and carbon neutrality will become a standard focus across the entire sports and live events industry.”# # #About Green Sports AllianceThe Green Sports Alliance (GSA) leverages the cultural and market influence of sports to promote healthy, sustainable communities where people live and play. GSA convenes professional sports leagues, sports governing bodies, colleges, teams, venues, their partners and millions of fans around meaningful change towards a more sustainable future. Through its Play to Zero® program, GSA leads the embrace of renewable energy, waste diversion, water efficiency, and environmentally preferable practices. Through its marquee event greening division, GSA delivers best-in-class sustainable productions to minimize environmental impacts and maximize community legacies, driving scalability and replications across the industry. Visit greensportsalliance.org for more information. Follow GSA on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok.About Oak View GroupOak View Group (OVG) is a global sports and entertainment company founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015. OVG is focused on being a positive disruption to business as usual in the sports, live entertainment, and hospitality industries and currently has eight divisions across five global offices (Los Angeles, New York, London, Philadelphia, and Toronto). OVG oversees the operations of Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center, UBS Arena at Belmont Park in Elmont, NY, and Moody Center in Austin, TX as well as arena development projects for Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, CA; Co-op Live in Manchester, UK; and projects for Arena São Paulo in São Paulo, BZ; Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, MD; FirstOntario Centre Arena in Hamilton, ON; a New Arena and entertainment district in Las Vegas, NV; and a New Arena in Cardiff, Wales. More information at OakViewGroup.com, and follow OVG on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.