State Farm Arena Takes Home Medals at 2024 GOAL Invitational

Earlier this week, State Farm Arena, the home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, earned nearly 30 medals as part of the 2024 GOAL Invitational. The award-winning downtown Atlanta venue earned gold medals throughout each of the primary categories of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). State Farm Arena executives joined other venue leaders in Phoenix (Arizona) for the 2024 GOAL Invitational and inaugural GOAL Medal Ceremony to collect the awards on behalf of their respective organizations. GOAL is Green Operations and Advanced Leadership, a sustainability-driven membership and support network for sports and entertainment venues, consisting of over 45 members and growing.

“We are thrilled to be recognized with a medal in every single category as part of the inaugural GOAL Medal Ceremony,” said Amanda Mann, Executive Vice President and Chief Facilities Officer for the Hawks and State Farm Arena. “In less than a month we will have executed our 500th zero waste event and we are proud to be a role model not only for the sports and entertainment industry but also in our city through our sustainability efforts. We hope that every person who steps foot into our venue is inspired to incorporate more sustainable practices in their homes and everyday lives.”

In total, State Farm Arena earned 16 Gold, seven Silver and six Bronze medals. The venue earned Gold in a variety of categories, 6 being within the waste reduction category, including Properly Disposing of Hard to Recycle and Hazardous Materials, Developing and Deploying Waste Management Plan, Increasing Waste Diversion by Recycling and many others.

“The GOAL Medals are a fun and exciting event to document and validate all of the amazing sustainability efforts that State Farm Arena integrates into its everyday operations,” said Kristen Fulmer, Head of Sustainability, Oak View Group. “In addition to validating the impact that they’ve already had, we’re excited to continue to follow their impact and see GOAL Medals achieved in future years!”

Each submission requires documentation and data aligned to each objective. There are three submission categories broken down into 10 sub-categories. The three categories are Environmental, Social and Governance. The Environmental category is made up of Energy & GHG Emissions, Water Efficiency & Quality and Water Reduction. The Social category is comprised of the following sub-categories: Health & Wellness, Food & Nutrition and Diversity & Inclusion. ESG, Community Resilience, Guest Experience & Education and Sustainable Partnerships all fall under the final category, Governance.

In October 2022, Oak View Group, Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena, Fenway Sports Group, and Jason F. McLennan teamed up to launch GOAL – a comprehensive sustainability platform for arenas, stadiums, convention centers, & other venues of public assembly. GOAL has provided venues with a tactical roadmap, easy-to-use tracking tools, a library of resources, and access to like-minded operators, vendors, and sponsors all committed to operating more sustainably, and more urgently.

Back in September, the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena, in partnership with Georgia Natural Gas, hosted a Sustainability Summit for local restauranteurs. As part of the afternoon, participants learned more about how to implement free and low-cost sustainability practices directly from industry leaders through various panels, presentations, and workshops and toured the award-winning downtown Atlanta venue to see how the world’s first zero-waste venue handles games, concerts, and events.

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