Beyond the Gridiron: Rams Pioneer New Sustainability Playbook

LONG BEACH, CA – January 08, 2026 – The Los Angeles Rams have long been known for their performance on the football field, but a different kind of playbook is now drawing attention. Celebrating the one-year anniversary of their “Football Without the Footprint” initiative, the Rams and their partner, California Resources Corporation (CRC), are showcasing a novel approach to corporate sustainability that aims to tackle the team's carbon emissions head-on.

This partnership marks the Rams as the first NFL team in California to invest in locally sourced carbon management products to offset its operational footprint. By focusing on certified, regional projects, the initiative moves beyond traditional carbon offsetting and presents a tangible model for how major organizations can integrate environmental goals with local community benefits.

A New Playbook for Accountability

At the heart of the initiative is a multi-pronged strategy to measure, reduce, and offset the team's carbon footprint. For the 2025 season, CRC analyzed the Rams' extensive energy use, from the jet fuel consumed for away-game travel to the natural gas powering their facilities. The solution was not a single purchase of generic carbon credits, but a curated portfolio of high-integrity environmental products sourced directly from CRC's California operations.

To address the significant emissions from air travel, CRC provided the Rams with low-carbon crude oil certificates from its local production. These certificates are certified by MiQ, an independent standard for tracking methane emissions. According to CRC, the crude oil used to generate these certificates has a carbon intensity 54% lower than the California average, representing a verifiable reduction in the upstream emissions associated with producing the team's jet fuel.

For operations at home, the team's facility consumption was matched with MiQ-certified low-carbon natural gas certificates. This gas achieved MiQ’s highest Grade A rating, signifying a methane intensity of less than 0.05%—a critical factor, as methane is a potent greenhouse gas.

To offset remaining emissions, the partnership turned to a unique industrial emissions avoidance project in Huntington Beach. Instead of planting trees hundreds of miles away, CRC generated carbon credits by voluntarily and permanently ceasing oil and gas production at a specific site. The integrity of these credits was evaluated by BeZero Carbon, a third-party ratings agency, which assigned them an “A.pre” rating, indicating a high likelihood of delivering the claimed climate benefits with very low project execution risk. This level of third-party verification is crucial in a carbon market often criticized for its lack of transparency.

From Oil Fields to Carbon Fields

This partnership also places a spotlight on CRC itself, an independent energy company with deep roots in California's oil and gas sector. The company is publicly charting a course toward an energy transition, with its Carbon TerraVault (CTV) subsidiary at the forefront. CTV is focused on developing large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, aiming to permanently sequester industrial CO2 emissions deep underground in depleted oil reservoirs.

This strategic pivot from fossil fuel extraction to carbon management is emblematic of a broader, more complex conversation happening across the energy industry. While such initiatives are praised for their innovation, they also attract scrutiny. A key concept in the world of carbon offsets is “additionality”—the principle that a project's emission reductions would not have happened without the financial incentive from selling carbon credits. Environmental watchdogs and academic researchers often question whether some projects are truly additional, raising concerns about “greenwashing,” where companies appear more environmentally friendly than they are.

CRC's approach, however, seeks to address these concerns through high levels of certification and by pursuing projects with clear, measurable outcomes, like the permanent shutdown of production facilities. The company’s long-term vision is outlined in its “Responsible Net Zero” strategy, which aims for Net Zero absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2045. This strategy recently saw a major milestone, with CRC securing the first-ever EPA permits in California for underground CO2 injection and storage, paving the way for the state's first commercial-scale CCS project, slated to begin injection in early 2026.

A Home-Field Advantage for California

Beyond the technical details of carbon accounting, a core tenet of the “Football Without the Footprint” program is its focus on local impact. By sourcing credits and energy certificates from within the state, the initiative keeps investment in California and ties its environmental action directly to the communities it serves.

In addition to the Huntington Beach project, the partnership sourced credits from a forestry project that benefits the Colorado River Basin. Given that the basin supplies over a third of Southern California's drinking water, this effort connects the Rams' carbon strategy to another critical environmental issue for the region: water security.

“The Rams are a fantastic partner, committed to supporting local, low-carbon solutions that directly benefit our shared community,” said Francisco Leon, CRC President and CEO, in a statement. “This first year demonstrates that professional sports can lead the way in decarbonization while driving positive environmental and social impact.”

The initiative also includes a significant public-facing component, aiming to leverage the Rams' massive platform to engage fans and raise awareness about carbon management, sustainable energy, and local environmental stewardship.

“Working with CRC, we are implementing innovative carbon management solutions that align the team’s operations with the priorities of our communities and fans,” added Jason Griffiths, Senior Vice President of Partnerships for the Los Angeles Rams.

This partnership unfolds within the context of California's aggressive climate goals, which mandate a transition to 100% zero-carbon energy and economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2045. The state’s official roadmap, the CARB Scoping Plan, explicitly includes a role for technologies like CCS to tackle emissions from hard-to-decarbonize industries. As professional sports franchises worldwide face increasing pressure to address their environmental impact, the Rams' detailed, locally-focused, and independently-verified strategy offers a compelling case study for how to move from ambition to action.