How Sports Venues Make Sustainability Work—and What Higher Ed Can Learn

Roger McClendon knows how to build a global sustainability strategy and make it stick. As the first Chief Sustainability Officer at Yum! Brands (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC), he helped implement sustainable design standards across 5,000 restaurants in 134 countries.

Now, as Executive Director of the Green Sports Alliance, he's helping stadiums, arenas, and entertainment venues embed sustainability into the core experience—not just treat it like a side initiative.

At the Higher Ed Facilities Forum, McClendon made his case to university facilities leaders: the sports industry has figured out how to make sustainability feel essential. Higher ed can borrow that playbook and get similar results.

It's Not About the Tech. It's About the Framing

The real difference isn’t better funding or smarter tools—it’s how the story is told.
“Sports, entertainment, music, culture, and arts has the ability to transcend gender, race, language, and economic status,” McClendon said. That cultural influence gives sports venues a head start: they already know how to create emotional connections and public buy-in.

Stadiums don’t present sustainability as a cost or a compliance issue. They package it as part of what makes the venue—and the fan experience—better. Whether it’s energy-efficient lighting that enhances visibility, recycling systems that streamline clean-up, or athletes promoting zero-waste goals, sustainability becomes part of the story people want to be part of.

And that framing works. It moves sustainability from an abstract goal to a visible win—one that’s celebrated on game day, not hidden behind the scenes.

For higher ed, the lesson is clear: sustainability messaging needs to meet people where they already are. That might mean positioning energy savings as upgrades to student comfort and classroom performance. Or using athletics, student orgs, and alumni channels to elevate environmental achievements as points of pride.

It’s not about pushing a new message. It’s about plugging sustainability into the things your community already values—and making those wins easier to see.

What Texas A&M Got Right

Texas A&M was the first university to launch a fully integrated sustainability master plan between its athletic department and facilities team. It wasn't just a memo—it was real collaboration.

Instead of operating in silos, both teams aligned on shared infrastructure goals. Facilities brought the technical know-how; athletics brought cultural influence and community visibility.

McClendon emphasized their execution mindset: "It's about execution, what you see on the field, in real time, it's about winning, it's about making sure you hit your objectives."

The plan covered everything from energy efficiency in stadiums to waste diversion on game days—built into a single strategy that worked. And it's a model other campuses can adapt.

Use the Whole Team

"Climate action is a team sport," McClendon reminded the room. "We all have something on the line."

And yet, most sustainability efforts still happen in silos. Facilities departments build their plans. Athletics runs separate operations. Student life might have its own initiatives. Rarely do these efforts add up to a unified strategy.

McClendon's challenge: break down those silos and take it one step further. Collaborate across institutions.

"Are we really collaborating, or are we competing? Shouldn't we be collaborating on saving the planet?" he asked the room.

He urged leaders to explore regional partnerships around shared energy procurement, infrastructure investments, and waste management. When you combine internal collaboration with regional partnerships, the cost savings become impossible to ignore.

The Business Case That Actually Works

Too often, sustainability gets engineered out of capital projects late in the game—usually for budget reasons. But stadiums are proving that if you build it in early, it pays off.

McClendon's approach is business-driven: "How we leverage not just for philanthropic benefit but for economic benefit."

Sports venues are achieving measurable results by treating sustainability as operational strategy, not environmental compliance. The key is to design environmental wins into projects from the start, rather than treating them as optional add-ons.

Want Buy-In? Make It Cool

Sustainability doesn't have to feel like a sacrifice. In fact, that's part of the problem.
"They want to know it's cool—that it's okay to protect the environment," McClendon said, speaking about today's students and young professionals.

At some venues, sustainability is built into the experience—fans receive perks for bringing reusable cups, zero-waste milestones are featured on jumbotrons, and athletes promote environmental goals.

Campus leaders can do the same. Sustainability shouldn't be an extra campaign—it should be part of what students already love: athletics, campus traditions, and student life. Let them help carry the message.

Students Are Your Best Storytellers

McClendon brought it back to the core: without students, there's no institution.
"How do you leverage your students to be activists to help you tell the story where the president and the Board of Trustees begin to listen?" he asked.

Whether it's sustainability-focused orgs, class projects, or student ambassadors, including students in the process builds visibility and momentum.

The Bottom Line

If sustainability still feels like a separate layer in your planning process, you're behind the curve.

The Green Sports Alliance playbook works because it puts culture first. It ties sustainability to identity, pride, and performance.

Campus leaders have the same opportunity—if they make sustainability part of the game plan, not just a footnote.

🎥 Watch Roger McClendon's full talk here.