Every March, millions of Americans suddenly develop strong opinions about teams they’ve never watched before.

I pick my March Madness like I drive: extremely haphazardly.

My car is currently in the shop for a busted tail light that mysteriously hit a tree, but this system works wonders during March Madness. I picked Loyola Chicago the year of Sister Jean! For someone who doesn’t follow sports, I’m very lucky when it comes to picking brackets based solely on vibes.

So, this week, I’m fully leaning into all things basketball.

‍Which Arenas Are Going Sustainable (And Which Are Clearly Avoiding The Shift)?

Golden 1 Center (Sacramento Kings) — The #1 Seed

If there's a GOAT of green arenas, it's Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. When it opened in 2016, it became the first indoor professional sports venue in the world to earn LEED Platinum certification — the highest possible green building designation. 

It's powered by 100% solar energy (1.2 megawatts from rooftop panels plus an 11-megawatt off-site solar farm), uses 45% less water and 30% less energy than California code requires, and sources 90% of its food and beverages from within 150 miles. 

Oh, and it recycled or diverted over 95% of its construction waste. Ninety-nine percent. I can't even get 95% of my kids' toys off the playroom floor. 

Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle Kraken/Storm) — The Cinderella Story

If Golden 1 Center is the #1 seed, Climate Pledge Arena is the scrappy 8-seed that keeps knocking off powerhouses. The arena, originally built for the 1962 World's Fair and completely redeveloped in 2021, became the first arena in the world to receive International Living Future Institute Zero Carbon Certification. 

It diverts 93% of its waste from landfills (the highest waste diversion rate of any sports venue globally at the time of certification), eliminated all single-use, fan-facing plastics, sources 60% of its food locally, and uses rainwater collected from its iconic sloped roof to make the ice for Kraken home games. 

Every ticket doubles as a free public transit pass. The arena is literally designed to make it easy to be good. 

Chase Center (Golden State Warriors) — The Overachiever

Chase Center earned LEED Gold certification in 2020 — one of only a handful of NBA arenas to hit Gold or higher. They reduced water consumption by over 50% through stormwater collection and greywater reuse, hired the NBA's first full-time dedicated sustainability manager, and installed an on-site bio-digester to compost food waste after every game. 

After each event, trash is hand-sorted to make sure every compostable scrap ends up where it should. The Golden State Warriors also partnered with Johnson Controls to let fans vote on reforestation sites. 

Points for fan engagement!

What About MSG?

Ah, Madison Square Garden…the World's Most Famous Arena, and also...not particularly known for its sustainability credentials. 

Here's what's worth acknowledging though: from a pure utilization standpoint, MSG is hard to beat. The arena hosts over 300 events per year — from Knicks games to Rangers games to Billy Joel concerts, boxing matches, graduations, and ice shows. Multi-use venues like MSG are inherently more resource-efficient per event than single-sport facilities. You're amortizing your energy and water footprint across a much higher number of events.

That said, when asked publicly about its sustainability goals and strategies, MSG's response has been... crickets. We couldn't find a whole lot of publicly available data. When Cvent, an event planning platform, surveyed them on sustainability goals and strategy, the response was listed as "No response." 

For a venue that could genuinely make the argument that multi-use density is one of the greenest models in sports, that's a missed opportunity.

@MSG, the ball is literally in your court.