AEG Joins Green Sports Alliance as Founding Partner

LOS ANGELES, July 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, leading sports and entertainment presenters AEG and the Green Sports Alliance, a nonprofit organization with a mission to enhance the environmental performance of sports teams and facilities, announced a strategic partnership where the AEG 1EARTH program would become a founding partner. This collaboration unites forward-thinking facilities and teams under the common goal of advancing environmental change in the sports industry.

"Joining the Green Sports Alliance is another important milestone for the AEG 1EARTH program," said Tim Leiweke, AEG president and CEO. "As we continue holding our venues to a higher environmental standard though projects like the STAPLES Center's solar panel installation, the Green Sports Alliance will give us another platform to collaborate with other leaders and organizations that are on the cutting edge of bringing sustainability solutions mainstream."

By uniting teams from eight different professional sports leagues with facility management partners like AEG and environmental leaders like the EPA, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, the Green Sports Alliance is working to foster broader cross-industry collaboration, promoting environmental stewardship while improving the environmental performance of venues across North America.

"To solve the environmental problems facing our planet, we need to shift our culture toward more sustainable practices. Professional sports are hugely influential and can play a significant role in improving the choices industries and consumers make every day. As the largest operator of arenas and stadiums, and one of the most environmentally intelligent businesses in the field, AEG's partnership with the Green Sports Alliance can cause a 'green' ripple effect of enormous proportions," said Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, senior scientist and director of NRDC's Sports Greening Initiative.

AEG's addition to the Green Sports Alliance marks a significant milestone in the coalition's growth, which is already attracting the attention of major sports franchises, leagues and government agencies. Formally launched just five months ago, the Green Sports Alliance, which has already attracted over 45 sports teams and venues, will more than double in size with today's addition of AEG's venues.

"The Green Sports Alliance is proud to welcome AEG as a founding partner in our rapidly growing organization," said Martin Tull, Green Sports Alliance executive director. "Adding AEG's vast network of facilities and the experience it brings from its environmental initiatives will go a long way toward increasing the impact of our Alliance, and allow us to learn from one another."

In addition to sharing best practices and collaborating on environmental programs as one of the Green Sports Alliance founding members, AEG will participate in next week's Green Sports Summit, where industry leaders and alliance members will meet to discuss the strategies and challenges of greening sports and facilities in the U.S. This three-day summit will combine case studies, expert presentations, panel discussions and a tour of the environmental programs of the Portland Rose Garden, home to the Portland Trail Blazers.

In November 2010, AEG launched its AEG 1EARTH program sustainability report — an industry first — and commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste and water usage at all its owned and managed facilities worldwide by at least 20 percent by 2020, including venues that fall under the new Green Sports Alliance like STAPLES Center, L.A. LIVE, The Home Depot Center, Rose Garden, Target Center and Citizens Business Bank Arena.

For more information about the Green Sports Alliance, and additional details about next week's Green Sports Summit: http://greensportsalliance.org/ or http://www.greensportssummit.org

For more information and a complete look at the 2010 AEG 1EARTH sustainability report: http://www.aegworldwide.com/08_corporate/aeg1earth-report.html

About AEG:

AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or is affiliated with a collection of companies including over 120 facilities such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), Best Buy Theater (Times Square, New York), Sprint Center, (Kansas City), Rose Garden Arena (Portland, OR), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN), Mercedes Benz Arena (Shanghai, China), Wukesong Arena (Beijing, China), O2 World Hamburg, Acer Arena (Sydney, Australia), The Globe arena (Stockholm, Sweden), O2 World arena(Berlin, Germany) and The O2 arena and entertainment district (London, England); sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL) and two MLS franchises in addition to overseeing privately held management shares of the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA). AEG has created L.A. LIVE, a 4 million square foot / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential & entertainment district featuring Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE and Club Nokia, a 54-story, 1001-room convention "headquarters" destination (featuring The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles and JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE hotels and 224 luxury condominiums – The Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. LIVE – all in a single tower), the Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14, "broadcast" facilities for ESPN, along with entertainment, restaurant and office space and developed The Home Depot Center in Carson, California designated as an "Official U.S. Olympic Training Site" by the United States Olympic Committee that includes major facilities for soccer, tennis, track & field, cycling and other sports. AEG Sports owns and operates a variety of events and tours and AEG Live is the world's second largest live entertainment, concert promotion and touring companies. The organization is also developing additional arenas in China and arenas in Stockholm and Las Vegas. In 2010, AEG launched its AEG 1EARTH environmental program with the announcement of 2020 environmental goals and the release of the industry's first sustainability report. The groundbreaking reports contains metrics collected on resources consumed and wastes generated at 20 facilities from AEG's global network of venues. The report also highlights success stories such as the over 3,000 solar panels on the roof of STAPLES Center and Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE For additional information, visit www.aegworldwide.com.

About Green Sports Alliance:

The Green Sports Alliance is a non-profit organization with a mission to help sports teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance. The founding members of the Alliance are from six different professional sports leagues: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Major League Soccer (MLS). Alliance members currently include over 45 sports teams and venues from across North America. The Green Sports Alliance supports professional sports leagues in further advancing and coordinating their work on behalf of environmental stewardship. For more information, visit www.greensportsalliance.org.

SOURCE AEG