There has been much criticism to the English Premier League and its carbon emissions
With a fan base of 3.5 billion people- almost half the world's population- football is the most popular sport and has the largest carbon footprint.
The popular game significantly impacts the planet's climate, with emissions resulting from energy use in stadiums, team and fan travel, broadcasting, and the market for tools and goods used in the game, valued at billions of dollars.
Estimates indicate that football contributes around 0.3-0.4% of total global emissions, with domestic and international travel, whether by teams or fans, being the biggest contributor accounting for around 60% of these emissions.
When it comes to football competitions, the English Premier League is the most famous, important, and expensive football competition worldwide, alongside also being the highest carbon emitter.
Accused of climate pollution
The English Premier League consists of 20 teams, playing 380 matches in a single season, starting in August and ending in May.
The English Premier League generates an income of $6.4 billion annually, from ticket sales, team products, and broadcasting rights, exceeding the revenues of the Suez Canal.
It also contributes to the UK's GDP of $9.7 billion and provides 100,000 permanent jobs, aside from seasonal jobs.
According to a study conducted by SPORT + MARKT in 2020, the English Premier League has an annual global television audience of 4.7 billion people.
The record-breaking figures for the English Premier League do not stop there; they also extend to its carbon emissions, which amounted to approximately 1.8 million tons of carbon dioxide during the 2016-2017 season alone, according to a study released in 2019.
Around 61% of these emissions, roughly 1.1 million tons of carbon dioxide, are solely from travel, meaning it's the largest contributor to the English Premier League's emissions without a doubt.
Another study released in 2022 revealed the teams in the English Premier League that travel long distances and produce the highest carbon emissions during their flights.
The study analyzed over 2,000 matches played by 20 football clubs in the English Premier League during the 2020/21 season.
Manchester United topped the ranking as the team with the longest distance travelled on flights since 2016, due to their participation in European competitions annually over the past five years.
Between 2016 and 2021, Manchester United traveled a total of 94,460 miles, resulting in the production of 442.5 tons of carbon dioxide.
The team also embarked on the longest journey ever compared to other club journeys in the same period, covering a distance of 9696 kilometers to Kazakhstan for a match in the European league, leading to an estimated emission of 33.8 tons of carbon dioxide.
Arsenal ranked second with a total distance of 87,421 miles over the past five years of the study, also participating in multiple European competitions during this period, playing a total of 30 matches in the European league between 2016 and 2017.
Following Arsenal were Liverpool, Tottenham, and Manchester City, emitting between 331 to 273 tons of carbon dioxide in the past five years.
The majority of the carbon dioxide emissions from these teams are from flying to and from European competitions, with only a small percentage resulting from land travel to matches.
Newcastle traveled the furthest over land, covering 50,797 miles, as the team farthest north among the twenty teams, thus usually having to travel longer distances for away matches.
On the other hand, the carbon costs resulting from friendly matches played by English Premier League clubs outside the country were also significant, despite being of lesser importance.
Pre-season data for the 2022/23 season shows that 19 out of 20 English Premier League clubs played 51 friendly matches abroad before the start of the season.
These trips covered 282,589 air miles and produced 19,847 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the energy consumption of 2400 homes for an entire year.
Air travel produces gases that contribute to global warming, primarily carbon dioxide, from burning fuel.
It's known that emissions from each kilometer flown are much worse than any other form of transportation.
Private airplanes generally produce much more emissions per passenger compared to commercial flights.
This reveals another crisis related to football emissions, which is the carbon footprint of celebrity players, whether with their clubs and national teams or during their travels, which often occur on private jets.
An English institution, Football Predictions, published an analysis of the top players contributing to emissions worldwide, including 20 players from five European leagues.
The analysis aggregates total emissions from travel, personal and football-related, for each player with their club in 2019, in Business Class, as well as trips for continental and international matches, and personal trips as well.
