After reading and writing about Greening Super Bowl XLVII, I wondered, “How green are the official sponsors?” so I decided to try to find out.
Super Bowl XLVII Official Sponsors
The 19 official sponsors for Super Bowl XLVII are shown on the New Orleans Host Committee (NOHC) website. I checked out each sponsor’s website to learn about their organization, aligned them with an industry, and created the following list.
Chemical (1)
- BASF – is a global chemical company.
Energy, Oil, and Gas (4)
- Chevron Corporation – is a global energy company with worldwide oil and natural gas operations that makes fuels and petrochemicals, mines for coal, and generates power.
- Edison Chouest Offshore – operates a fleet of vessels that support U.S. Gulf of Mexico deepwater oil operations.
Entergy Corporation – owns and operates power plants, delivers electricity to AR, LA, MS, and TX, and is one of the nation’s largest nuclear generators.- Schlumberger Limited – provides services, products, tools, and equipment to oil and gas companies around the world.
Financial Services (1)
- Chase – owned by JPMorgan Chase & Co., provides consumer and commercial banking services.
Food and Beverage (4)
- Bud Light – is owned by Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.a wholly-owned subsidiary of a global brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Louisiana Seafood – is a seafood promotion and marketing organization.- Pepsi – is a brand of global food and beverage company PepsiCo, Inc., whose other brands include Gatorade, Doritos, Sun Chips, Naked Juice, and Quaker Oats, to name a few.
- Zatarain’s – owned by McCormick & Co. Inc., makes food products based on New Orleans-style recipes.
Healthcare (1)
- Peoples Health – provides Medicare healthcare to residents of southeast Louisiana.
Media (2)
- A+E Television Networks, LLC – is a global media content company which owns sponsors A&E® and HISTORY® channels.
Mining (1)
- Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. – mines copper, gold, and molybdenum.
Non-Profit (1)
Team Gleason – is a nonprofit dedicated to generating awareness and raising funds to find a cure for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Founder Steve Gleason, a former New Orleans Saints football player, has ALS.
Travel (3)
- LouisianaTravel.com – is the official travel authority for the state of Louisiana.
- New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau – is a marketing organization and economic development corporation.
- New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation (NOTMC) – promotes New Orleans travel and economic development.
Technology (1)
- Verizon – is a global communications company that provides broadband, video, and other wireless and wireline services.
Super Bowl XLVII Official Sponsor Activities & Events
In seeking information about sponsor involvement in Super Bowl XLVII activities and events, I searched their websites and the Internet. Below are some highlights.
BASF employee volunteers joined Habitat for Humanity of Greater Baton Rouge and other Super Bowl sponsors on Feb. 2 for “Super Saturday of Service,” building and renovating houses for several families in need.
Bud Light temporarily converted a 200-room New Orleans hotel into “Bud Light Hotel” to provide a hotspot for fans.
Chevron Corporation acted as the NOHC’s volunteer services partner for the 8,000 or so volunteers needed to pull off the Super Bowl.
Entergy Corporation collaborated with the NOHC and Center for Climate and Energy Solutions on a carbon offset program and presented an emerging business program to increase procurement opportunities for local small, minority, and women-owned enterprises.
Louisiana Seafood and Zatarain teamed up to serve Louisiana seafood to thousands of media personnel at the Media Center and sponsored the Taste of the NFL fundraiser.
Pepsi sponsored several events, including the halftime show featuring Beyonce and a halftime countdown of fan-submitted photos.
Team Gleason hosted a charity flag football game between ex-NFL players and a squad of wounded warriors. In January, Chase announced a $350,000 grant to help build The Team Gleason House for Innovative Living.
Verizon sponsored Verizon Super Bowl Boulevard, a free 4-day event hosted on the grounds of Audubon Institute’s Woldenberg Park. The event featured local musicians, food and drink, live TV broadcasts, and fan activities.
In Summary
The official sponsors ran the gamut from offshore drilling to healthcare. None of the sponsors are green companies per se, although some make products that are used in green products or services. Some have substantial environmental and social responsibility programs. A few sponsors and other organizations helped to put a green tinge on Super Bowl XLVII. Sponsor financial, personnel, technology, product, and expertise contributions helped make the Super Bowl possible.
Using my smartphone stopwatch, I estimated about 60 minutes of commercials were aired during the Super Bowl XLVII broadcast of approximately 4 1/4 hours (almost 25%).
Super Bowl XLVII Final Score: Baltimore Ravens – 34 vs. San Francisco 49ers – 31
Business sponsorship seems to be a way of life for sporting events regardless of if it is a kid’s soccer game, the NFL Super Bowl, or the Olympic Games.
Related Posts
Resources
- BASF – BASF joins Habitat for Humanity and the New Orleans Super Bowl XLVII Host Committee to build homes for Baton Rouge families in need
- NFL – Official 2013 NFL Super Bowl Program
- Super Bowl XLVII New Orleans Host Committee – Environmental Program (link inactive as of 12/23/14)
- Super Bowl XLVII New Orleans Host Committee – Greening Super Bowl Fact Sheet (link inactive as of 12/23/14)
- The Times-Picayune – Chevron becomes a sponsor for Super Bowl XLVII
- The Times-Picayune – Louisiana Seafood to be served every day this week to 5,000 media members in town for Super Bowl 2013
- The Times-Picayune – What ALS takes away, Steve Gleason and technology can cure
