The carbon footprint of football fans: Emotional and rational correlates of home and away game travel

IF 5.6 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Environmental and Sustainability Indicators Pub Date : 2025-06-01 Epub Date: 2025-02-12 DOI:10.1016/j.indic.2025.100635

Christian Kraft , Christoph Bühren , Pamela Wicker

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Abstract

This study investigates the carbon footprint generated by football fans traveling to German third-division league games during the 2023/24 season, analyzing both emotional (connectedness to nature) and rational determinants of seasonal carbon footprint (environmental knowledge, perceived environmental pollution, and transport-specific environmental consciousness). The analysis is grounded in the value-belief-norm theory, which suggests that pro-environmental behavior is driven by personal norms, beliefs, and values. An online survey of 815 fans was conducted to outline their match-related travel behavior. The findings revealed that the average seasonal carbon footprint per fan was 438.45 kg CO₂-e, with car travel contributing to 82% of the total emissions. Regression analyses showed that only transport-specific environmental consciousness of fans significantly reduced their carbon emissions. This finding suggests that rational determinants may play a stronger role in shaping pro-environmental behavior than emotional ones. The results offer policymakers strategies to mitigate fan travel emissions in professional sports.

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足球迷的碳足迹：主客场比赛旅行的情感和理性关联

本研究调查了2023/24赛季前往德国三级联赛的球迷所产生的碳足迹，分析了季节性碳足迹的情感（与自然的联系）和理性决定因素（环境知识、感知环境污染和交通特定的环境意识）。该分析以价值信念规范理论为基础，该理论认为亲环境行为是由个人规范、信仰和价值观驱动的。一项针对815名球迷的在线调查概述了他们与比赛相关的旅行行为。研究结果显示，每个风扇的平均季节性碳足迹为438.45千克二氧化碳-e，其中汽车旅行占总排放量的82%。回归分析表明，只有特定交通工具的环保意识才能显著减少其碳排放。这一发现表明，在形成亲环境行为方面，理性决定因素可能比情感决定因素发挥更大的作用。研究结果为政策制定者提供了减少职业体育运动中球迷旅行排放的策略。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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