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

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 theory of Stern's (2000) 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 CO 2 -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. Highlights Correlates of Home and Away Game Travel • Season-long assessment of fan carbon footprint for home and away football games • Development of a new quiz to measure transport-specific environmental knowledge • Emotional connectedness to nature found unrelated to fan carbon emissions • Transport-specific environmental consciousness affects fan travel emissions • Practical policy suggestions to reduce fan travel emissions are proposed