An oil field

Why it’s so hard to kick fossil fuels out of sport

Governments and public relations firms are under pressure to, in UN secretary-general António Guterres’s words, stop “fuelling the madness” and ban fossil fuel advertising or cut ties with the industry.

FranceAmsterdamSheffield and Edinburgh have all restricted fossil fuel advertising to differing degrees in recognition of the industry’s responsibility for climate breakdown.

People working in the advertising industry are among those calling for an end to working with fossil fuel companies. There is a reputational risk with continuing to represent these businesses. Four advertising agencies recently lost a sustainability certification for taking an oil company as a client.

Oil and gas advertising is perhaps most prolific in sport. A recent report estimated that fossil fuel companies have invested more than £4 billion across 200 sponsorship deals.

Fellow researchers have appealed for sport to be included in any further advertising bans. There is a precedent: a tobacco advertising ban came into force in the UK in 2002. Bear in mind, that ban took nearly 40 years of campaigning and tobacco executives have shown they’re capable of navigating its loopholes.

Even so, the fossil fuel industry will prove significantly harder to purge than tobacco. Here’s why.

‘No fossil fuels, no sport’

Human development is largely a story of increasing energy use. Oil in particular has transformed everyday life beyond comprehension.

Whether it be in the form of high-profile sponsorship deals, sporting equipment made from petrol-based products like carbon fibre or flying to meet the demand for ever more fixtures, modern sport reflects society’s oil dependency.

The fossil fuel industry knows this. Despite the longstanding scientific consensus that fossil fuels must be phased out, the industry seeks to convince the public that oil and gas will still be needed for a very long time.

Analysis of one oil company’s sustainability reports identified how its communications strategy shifted from denying the results of climate science to more subtle efforts to delay an energy transition. These included the argument that fossil fuels are an irreplaceable precondition for “the good life”.

Sport is a vehicle for perpetuating this argument. In 2021, an oil and gas trade association in the US launched a campaign showcasing sports products made from petroleum, the implication being that people cannot enjoy sport without fossil fuels.

Sport is poised for corporate piggybacking because it evokes connection, pride and security in fans and spectators – feelings the fossil fuel industry is keen to capitalise on. An analysis of the Canadian oil industry’s advertising between 2006 and 2015 documented a shift from images of the natural environment to those depicting family life and domesticity.

This kind of pernicious messaging, which entrenches fossil fuels within the things people hold dear, will be hard for legislators to reverse.

Continues…

For the full article by Theo Lorenzo Frixou visit the Conversation.

ENDS

 

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 24/177

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines. 

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme and named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2024 QS World University Rankings – the eighth year running. 

Loughborough is ranked 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2025, 10th in the Guardian University League Table 2024 and 10th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024. 

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’, and in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes. 

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking. 

Categories