Our latest roundtable brought together sports industry leaders and climate tech innovators to tackle a question that’s transforming the sector: how does operational sustainability create competitive advantage?

Here’s what we know: sustainability is no longer optional in sport. But here’s what we’re learning: it’s also not the burden sport organisations think it is.

When FuturePlus and Sustainable Ventures hosted our Sports Sustainability Roundtable in September, we brought together representatives from organisations including the England and Wales Cricket Board, British Rowing, Marylebone Cricket Club, and climate tech innovators like Solivus and Global Sustainable Sport.

The conversation was focused on how operational sustainability creates competitive advantage.

Let’s start with numbers that matter.

Charlie Armitage from Solivus presented a case study that epitomises why sustainability makes business sense. Northamptonshire County Cricket Club installed lightweight solar panels on their stadium—a venue that couldn’t support traditional solar due to structural limitations.

The result? £850,000 in lifetime savings. A 5-year payback period. A 500-1,000% return on investment over the system’s lifetime.

As Charlie put it: “Sometimes sustainability is seen as a charitable thing, and you’re reaching into your pocket because you’re doing the right thing for the environment. But this is smart business advice. You’re saving money that you can then reinvest into other parts of the club.”

And crucially, finance directors are now driving these conversations—not just sustainability officers. Because when energy costs spiked following the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the business case became impossible to ignore.

Kathy Gibbs, Sustainability Manager at the England and Wales Cricket Board, shared how they’re approaching their most significant impact area: their supply chain.

With over 1,000 suppliers but limited resources, the ECB focused on pragmatism over perfection. They identified their top 50 suppliers by spend—representing 80% of their total expenditure—and engaged them using the FuturePlus platform.

The insight that resonated most with attendees? Several suppliers developed comprehensive sustainability plans as a direct result of the ECB’s engagement.

But perhaps the more profound takeaway was about internal capacity: “My goal is to get everybody to be their own sustainability expert,” Kathy explained. “I’m spending a lot of time internally trying to educate and upskill people and make them feel confident to have those conversations.”

Sustainability isn’t a one-person job. It’s a cultural shift.

Mike Laflin from Global Sustainable Sport posed a provocative question: Why does the UK spend £200 billion annually on the NHS but just £2 billion on sport?

His answer: sport sees itself as entertainment, not as a health product.

The opportunity? Repositioning sport as prevention rather than treatment. With 500,000+ organisations working in sport globally and reach to 4-5 billion people, the sector’s potential cascade effect is enormous—but only if the industry can articulate its value collectively.

“If we can connect the suppliers, if we can connect the different operations, then actually there’s a voice, there’s a power,” Mike emphasised. “If we all carry on working individually, we’re not going to have that.”

Across all three presentations and the roundtable discussions, five critical themes emerged:

1. Collective power multiplies impact – Collaboration beats individual action every time
2. The business case must stack up today – Not just be ‘the right thing to do’
3. Internal champions are non-negotiable – Someone needs to own it and bring others along
4. Measurement enables meaningful progress – What gets measured gets managed
5. Communication bridges the gap – Between doing great work and creating full value from it

The roundtable demonstrated something we’ve long believed at FuturePlus: sustainability is a competitive advantage, not a cost centre.

When you focus on operational sustainability—energy systems, supply chains, facilities management—you unlock:

• Cost savings that improve your bottom line immediately
• Risk reduction that protects long-term resilience
• Enhanced reputation that attracts customers, talent, and partners
• Procurement advantages as tenders increasingly require sustainability credentials
• Innovation opportunities that create first-mover advantage

But you need the right infrastructure. Fragmented data, unclear priorities, and difficulty tracking progress all prevent organisations from turning commitments into competitive advantage.

Our Sports Sustainability Roundtable report contains:

• Three detailed case studies with implementation insights
• Actionable recommendations for organisations and the industry
• Practical next steps you can take immediately
• Recognition of IMPACT CERTIFIED organisations leading the way

Whether you’re a sports organisation just getting started or looking to take your sustainability work to the next level, this report offers insights from organisations who are proving that sustainability and business success go hand in hand.