How football Bundesliga matches affect traffic volume and carbon emissions
利用德国北威州2022/23赛季的实时交通数据，研究发现德甲比赛日交通流量显著增加，工作日上升4.96%–10.40%，周末上升2.86%–4.82%，相应碳排放量也大幅上升，为大型体育赛事的可持续性提供了参考。
Research question This study examines the impact of football Bundesliga matches on traffic volume and associated carbon emissions using actual traffic data from the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, to provide insights into the sustainability of major sporting events.Research methods Using hourly traffic data collected from permanent counting stations located around the stadiums of the First and Second Bundesliga clubs in North Rhine-Westphalia during the 2022/23 season, we estimated the changes in traffic patterns on game days. Panel regression models were used to estimate the impact of Bundesliga matches on traffic counts on both weekdays and weekends.Results and findings The results of our analysis revealed that football Bundesliga matches significantly increase traffic volume and therefore carbon emissions. On game days, traffic volumes rise by 4.96%–10.40% on weekdays and by 2.86%–4.82% on weekends. Correspondingly, pollutant emissions from the vehicles of people attending the matches range from 50,657 to 99,669 kg of CO2-equivalent (CO2-e) on weekdays and 60,552 to 92,013 kg on weekends. Per spectator, this translates to emissions between 1.08 and 2.12 kg CO2-e on weekdays and 1.29 and 1.96 kg on weekends.Implications The observed increase in traffic and carbon emissions underscores the need for targeted policies to mitigate the environmental impact of football matches. The observed CO2-e from matches is significant, though much lower than in other studies, suggesting the presence of crowding-out effects.