This paper examines the diffusion of environmental management initiatives in business and the motives and pressures reported by senior executives to adopt these practices in one industry. We frame these sustainable practices under the umbrella of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and examine the causal drivers of environmental behavior. This study used a mixed-methods approach and included a survey and 17 in-depth interviews with professional sports team and league executives. Data revealed both strategic and legitimacy motives to adopt environmental management practices. More specifi cally, the analysis suggested that strategic motives were the primary reason for adopting an environmental CSR focus. Motives to address institutional pressures were also found, although to a lesser extent. The paper discusses the role and relevance environmentally focused CSR plays in professional sport organizations in North America and presents suggestions for future research in this area.

No abstract

No abstract

Sport organizations across North America promote and claim deep commitments to environmental issues through sustainability performance signaling. These signals are conveyed through external associations or memberships (e.g., Green Sports Alliance) or internally (e.g., environmental reports and communications). However, researchers have not explored this communication strategy as it relates to environmental initiatives in sport nor compared environmental communications of sport organizations from the major professional sport leagues in North America. We analyzed the websites of 147 North American sport organizations and their associated venue websites for environmental performance signaling communications. We found that only one sport organization featured an environmental report on its website, and 42 sport organizations highlighted environmental initiatives through dedicated webpages on the respective team or venue’s website. Predominately, these communications focused on fan engagement initiatives (i.e., awareness, participation) but lacked goal setting, measurement metrics, or performance summaries. We discuss these themes, the implications, and recommendations for how sustainability performance signaling can be better leveraged in the North American sport sector.

Across the world, organizational personnel in various industries are integrating natural environment issues into existing organizational practices. In the intercollegiate sports world, environmental efforts are undertaken as part of a strategic effort involving collaborative processes across university units. The purpose of this study is to develop a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of collaborative processes and practices between personnel in athletics departments and sustainability offices at universities and colleges in the United States. In-depth interviews were conducted with athletics and sustainability department personnel at colleges and universities in the United States. A total of 13 schools were included in the study with 17 participants agreeing to be interviewed. All interviewees were from