- April 11, 2025
The NFL and other sports leagues have been adopting solar energy into their stadiums to reduce electricity costs.
Stadiums are known to use a lot of energy. A 70,000-seat stadium can use between 10,000 and 20,000 kWh on a game day. In comparison, an average household uses less than 1,000 kWh in one month.
The NFL has the most stadiums using onsite solar arrays, at 32%. The MLB and the NBA are close behind, at 30%.
SEIA has offered a list of the five largest solar installations for stadiums across each league.
- Golden 1 Center—The NBA’s Sacramento Kings stadium uses a mix of on-site and off-site installations and represents 58% of the capacity installed at NBA arenas. It is the world’s first arena to be 100% solar-powered year-round.
- Lincoln Financial Field (The Linc) – The Philadelphia Eagles football stadium has an 11,000-panel array packing in 4 MW of power capacity.
- Capital One Arena – Home of the Washington Capitals (NHL) and the Washington Wizards (NBA), takes its power from a 3.5 MW offsite installation in Maryland.
- America First Field – Home to Real Salt Lake, the stadium has 73% of its total energy consumption covered by the 6,423 panels installed on site. This is the largest solar array investment in the MLS.
- Northwest Stadium – Home to the NFL’s Washington Commanders, the stadium has a 2 MW array. There are 8,000 panels onsite, and the system can cover all non-gameday usage and 20% of gameday operation needs.
Sports venues have also been pioneering sustainability. The top 5 most sustainable NFL stadiums are:
- Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia Eagles
- Allegiant Stadium – Las Vegas Raiders
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta Falcons
- Lumen Field – Seattle Seahawks
- Soldier Field – Chicago Bears
U.S. sports organizations aren’t the only ones putting sustainability first, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has produced an 11-point sustainability strategy that includes cutting gas emissions by 50% by 2050.
There are also ways stadiums/arenas have been creative regarding sustainability. Here are just a few.
- Amsterdam ArenA – The arena uses second-life Nissan LEAF batteries to provide backup power for the stadium.
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium – The first professional sports stadium to receive a Platinum LEED certificate. Its exterior features 160,000 square feet of single-layer ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) translucent surface. It partially maximizes the utilization of natural light and offsets.
- Levi’s Stadium— The stadium features a 27,000-square-foot green roof on the top of its suite tower, which provides insulation that reduces heating and cooling costs.
Overall, stadiums and arenas have been strong leaders in adopting solar and making sustainability efforts.
Check out these articles to learn more!
