Sporting Kansas City will host the club’s inaugural Sporting Sustainability theme night on April 14 when the New York Red Bulls visit Children’s Mercy Park for a marquee matchup between two teams that finished atop their respective conferences in 2018.
Launched in 2018, Sporting Sustainability aims to raise awareness around the impact of food waste prevention, including greenhouse gas emissions and agricultural land use, while utilizing educational tools to encourage the adoption of sustainable practices amongst consumers. The collaborative platform unites six prominent organizations—Sporting Kansas City, Syngenta, Bayer, Farm to Market Bread Company, Missouri Organic Recycling and The Nature Conservancy—to reduce food waste and achieve additional key sustainability outcomes in the Midwest.
The Sporting Sustainability initiative will be showcased on April 14 through a variety of unique offers to supporters, emphasizing the message that “The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for.” Fans can purchase tickets to the match at SeatGeek.com.
TAKE THE PLEDGE:Supporters can join the Sporting Sustainability mission by visiting SportingKC.com/sustainability and taking the digital pledge. Self-reporting via the digital platform will qualify participants for a chance to win Sporting tickets, merchandise and other experiences. The webpage integrates components to further measure the impact of food waste reduction, including an online tracking tool to showcase the campaign’s overall objectives.
The theme night will also feature Sporting Kansas City’s new Parley jersey, a kit created with Parley Ocean Plastic™ made from recycled waste from beaches and coastal communities before it reaches the ocean. The Men’s Parley jerseys will be on sale at all SportingStyle locations inside the stadium, and fans who purchase the kit will receive a reusable shopping bag made of recycled materials while supplies last. Supporters can also buy the new, limited-time Sporting Sustainability scarf of the match.
Upon exiting Children’s Mercy Park after the game, fans will have the opportunity to receive a biodegradable cup with an educational Sporting Sustainability insert. The cup will biodegrade over a period of two to five years in a standard landfill environment.
Sporting Kansas City players will bring the theme to the field, wearing the Parley jersey during warmups and the pre-game walkout. Six days later, Sporting will wear the Parley jerseys for their April 20 away match at the San Jose Earthquakes before donating the game-worn kits to The Victory Project for an online auction.
In conjunction with the Sporting Sustainability title night, Sporting Kansas City will partner with Major League Soccer to support league-wide green initiatives at the local level. This includes the annual Recycle Your Game program, inviting all supporters to bring new or gently used soccer equipment to drop off at the stadium gates during home matches on April 14 and April 27. All gear will go to underserved local youth, who will gather on May 23 for a soccer clinic at the Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Additionally, the MLS WORKS Greener Goals campaign will see Sporting associates participate in the Greener Goals Week of Service from April 15-19, intended to reduce carbon footprints and raise awareness about environmental issues throughout the soccer community.
Sporting’s hospitality team has backed the Sporting Sustainability cause by purchasing BioHiTech—a cost-effective technology solution for low-volume food waste generators—and sourcing biodegradable vessels for food and beverage concessions, such as the new beer growler. At select concessions in the stadium, fans can get their own beer growler for $2 off with the purchase of any Anheuser-Busch beer.
Lastly, Sporting will host students from Olathe West High School’s Green Tech Academy. Olathe West is the only Energy Star-rated high school in the state of Kansas, and students from the program focus on developing insights into sustainable energy throughout the region.
