Discounted tickets for World Cup and popstar gigs could cut climate costs of ‘mega events’

The World Cup sent millions of fans across North America this summer. According to researchers at the University of Cambridge, all that travel came at a loss for the climate.

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A new study found that spectator travel is by far the biggest source of emissions at major sporting events and concert tours.

Analysing Coldplay’s 2024 European tour alongside projections for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, researchers found spectator travel accounted for 97 per cent of emissions from the band’s concerts and 82 per cent of the tournament’s projected carbon footprint.

The findings suggest organisers have been focusing on the wrong source of emissions.

Rather than relying on carbon offsets, researchers argue ‘mega events’ should encourage audiences to travel more sustainably by rewarding lower-carbon transport choices.

“Effective climate strategies for mega-events like the World Cup go well beyond reducing operational emissions at venues,” says Shaun Larcom, the study’s corresponding author.“This is only a fraction of the overall footprint.”

Fans - not stages or stadiums – cause the most emissions

According to the study, in less than two months, the expanded 48-team World Cup generated as much carbon dioxide as some countries do in a single year.

It estimates that the tournament will have generated around 4.23 million tonnes of carbon emissions, roughly equivalent to Iceland’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Around three million tonnes are expected to come solely from fans flying to matches.

Coldplay’s European tour paints a similar picture. While the band invested in measures such as solar-powered stage systems, researchers say that almost all of the tour’s emissions reductions came from audience behaviour.

The band encouraged fans to compare lower-carbon travel options through its app and offered merchandise discounts for those who travelled more sustainably. According to the study, fans cut their travel-related emissions by 48 per cent, contributing to an overall 46 per cent reduction in the tour’s emissions compared with a standard tour.

Are carbon offsets enough?

Coldplay has also become one of the music industry’s highest-profile advocates for carbon offsetting and carbon removal, funding projects designed to compensate for emissions that cannot yet be avoided.

But other artists have faced growing scrutiny over their emissions.

During Taylor Swift’s zeitgeist-defining Eras Tour in 2024, private jet travel alone was estimated to have emitted more than 511,000 kg of carbon dioxide – roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of about 120 gas-powered vehicles.

That figure does not include emissions from transporting equipment or the millions of fans travelling to her concerts around the world.

Swift’s representatives have previously said carbon credits were purchased to offset travel emissions. Other celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Billie Eilish and Coldplay, have also backed carbon offsets, credits or removal projects.

But the Cambridge researchers argue that those measures aren’t enough. The biggest climate gains, they say, are likely to come from changing how audiences travel rather than relying on offsets alone.

Should organisers help fans travel more sustainably?

Emissions aren’t the remit of artists and sport stars alone.

The researchers argue that organisers of concerts and events like major football tournaments should also take responsibility for the indirect emissions generated by their events by making lower-carbon travel easier and more attractive.

They propose measures that reduce emissions at the source, including rail discounts, incentives for using shared transport and choosing locations that reduce the need for long-haul flights.

They also suggest a small levy on broadcast audiences could help fund emissions reductions without placing the burden solely on spectators attending in person.

“As we find with Coldplay’s approach, real sustainability comes when organisers influence the wider system of fan behaviour, from transport and routing to decisions about the scale and design of an event,” Larcom says.