Star Athletes Urge Sports Fans To Join Them On Ocean Protection
Athletes are rallying sports fans to join them to “Protect Where We Play” as part of a new initiative led by Ocean Conservancy. Professional sports leagues, teams, and venues will also participate through events and activations focussed on ocean health and conservation.
“Whether you live on the coast or hundreds of miles inland, the future of your favorite game, concert or event depends on the health of our ocean,” says Ocean Conservancy’s chief brand and communications officer, Jenna DiPaolo. Oceans are a “vital buffer” against the impacts of climate change, absorbing 25 percent of our carbon dioxide emissions and capturing 90 percent of the excess heat generated by these emissions.
Climate action in the U.S. is currently being described as “don’t ask, don’t tell” under President Donald Trump. However, “governors and mayors and business leaders are, for the most part, going to continue reducing their emissions because it makes good economic sense,” former U.S. vice president Al Gore shared recently.
Athletes Ask Sports Fans To Act For Future Generations
Athlete ambassadors or “Team Ocean” captains are leading awareness efforts for the initiative, and are using their reach to mobilise sports fans. Captains include Arizona Cardinals offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum, two-time gold medal-winning paralympian Ezra Frech, olympian and WNBA basketball player for Minnesota Lynx, Napheesa Collier, and Brent Suter, MLB baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds.
Shoring up the opportunity for the next generation to participate in sports is the motivation behind the athletes’ involvement. Something that could be under threat as our climate changes. “I want my daughter — and everyone’s kids — to be able to enjoy the same sports that have brought me so much joy and success,” commented Collier.
“For me, this really comes down to my kids,” Suter shared, “I want all our kids to be able to enjoy the game that has given me so much, and I think that every athlete would want the same thing.”
Frech is driven by the desire to make it possible for more people to participate in the sports that they love. “To protect our planet, and to create the best world we can for my little brothers to enjoy sports like I have, we need to protect the oceans.”
“Protect Where We Play is about ensuring that future generations can enjoy the same experiences we treasure today,” noted Kelvin Beachum. “Studies show that our home stadium could face nearly $965 million in damages over the next decade from high heat and flooding.”
This sentiment is at the heart of another new athlete-led climate campaign in Australia. National cricket captain, Pat Cummins, and more than 130 other athletes have come together to ask fans to support a Duty of Care Bill, “to make the right calls today to ensure Aussie kids can keep playing the sports they love.” Olympic bronze medal-winning race walker Rhydian Cowley is one of those athletes, and commented, “Because sport has given me so much, I want to protect its future, so the next generation gets the same opportunities I did.”
The Power of Sports Fans To Unlock Action
Two out of every three Americans are sports fans. Powerful influencers of culture, the economy and a key target for businesses, fans are the lifeblood of sport. They hold the power to influence decision-making and drive real change when they unite at scale around an issue.
Ohio-based Major League Soccer team Columbus Crew was on the verge of being moved to Texas in 2017, a move that would have made one of the original MLS team franchises cease to exist. In “one of the most notable fan movements in US soccer history,” supporters started a campaign that garnered global coverage. This influenced a new ownership group to build a new home stadium locally. Columbus Crew still play their home games in Ohio.
In 2021, 12 soccer clubs attempted to create a breakaway European Super League. While heads of state, top European leagues, and football associations opposed the move, it was the “ferocious” backlash from fans, who took to the streets to protest the “greedy pursuit of money,” that led to Premier League clubs withdrawing. This stopped the idea in its tracks.
Money was also at the centre of fan protests in Germany in late 2023 and early 2024. Bundesliga fans protested the German soccer league’s plans to allow a financial investor to acquire a one billion euro stake in media rights. Fans disrupted and delayed nearly every game in the top two men’s divisions for weeks, by throwing chocolate coins and tennis balls onto pitches and using remote controlled cars to stop play. The league did not sell the stake.
Whether focused on preserving team legacies, influencing financial decisions, or now advocating for ocean health, sports fans taking collective action can drive real-world change. The Protect Where We Play campaign highlights the opportunity they have to shape the future, not just of their team, but of the planet itself.
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