Protecting Florida

Ocean Conservancy’s Partnership with Miami Super Bowl Host Committee for Super Bowl LIV, Miami

Ocean to Everglades (O2E) Initiative Brought Environmental Focus to the Big Game

On Super Bowl Sunday 2020, 102 million viewers saw San Francisco 49ers and TeamOcean player Raheem Mostert score a touchdown. A few minutes before that, Grammy winner Lil Nas X was featured in a Super Bowl commercial only days after spending time at Ocean Conservancy’s booth at Super Bowl LIVE. Inside Hard Rock Stadium, fans saw sustainably sourced oysters on the menu featured by Miami Dolphins Hospitality Partner, Centerplate. Inside the stadium, the 62,417 fans in attendance saw 50,000 aluminum cups replace plastic containers for beer and liquor. Through our partnership, Ocean Conservancy provided guidance and recommendations that led to these and other plastic reductions at Hard Rock Stadium. All of these gameday activities were preceded by our final Ocean to Everglades cleanup where we surpassed our goal to remove and divert 54 tons of Ocean Plastic and other waste from Florida’s coastlines.

This was a result of Ocean Conservancy’s partnership with the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee, the Everglades Foundation and NFL Green, becoming the first national ocean partner for a Super Bowl. Together, we formed the Ocean to Everglades initiative (O2E) focused on creating a stage for environmental events, education and sustainability efforts throughout South Florida and the NFL.

As Ocean Partner, we launched #TeamOcean, where NFL players, fans and anybody who supports a healthy ocean in Florida or abroad could join with individual or collective actions. We tasked ourselves with a few areas of work in order to bring attention and action to the health of Florida’s coasts for the Big Game. Focusing on plastic reduction and sustainable fisheries, we also launched the #SuperCleanupChallenge and set a goal to remove and divert 54 tons of ocean plastic and other waste from Florida’s coasts, which began at the outset of our partnership in February 2019.

Here is a snapshot of our work and of all of the partners and supporters from across the country who helped make Super Bowl LIV the most environmentally focused Super Bowl in history.

To start, please have a look at two of our Super Bowl videos, both selected as winners for the Smithsonian’s Earth Optimism Summit, 2020:

Bringing Our Ocean to Super Bowl LIV

Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing + Ocean Conservancy

#TeamOcean Activities

Super Bowl Sunday

One last touchdown for #TeamOcean for the 2019-20 season as 49ers running back and #TeamOcean player Raheem Mostert scores in the 3rd quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Ocean Conservancy/Pepsi Cleanup with LoCash and Ally Brook at Oleta State Park

Our final cleanup of the season with musicians LoCash and Ally Brook and our partners at Pepsi.

Ocean Conservancy and Pepsi Partnership Announcement at The Clevelander Hotel

Ocean Conservancy CEO, Janis Searles Jones, addresses the crowd at The Clevelander Hotel on South Beach. The event was held to kick off our #TeamOcean partnership with Pepsi.

Ocean Conservancy on Radio Row with Arizona Cardinals RB Kenyan Drake

A day after helping us cleanup Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, Cardinals running back, Kenyan Drake, took some time to speak about his passion for the ocean with NBC Sports, Sky Sports, Sirius XM and Peter King on the famed Radio Row.

Ocean Conservancy and Centerplate Press Conference at Hard Rock Stadium

Chief Scientist George Leonard speaks with media inside Hard Rock Stadium’s “72 Club” about sustainably sourced oyster dish. Miami Dolphins Hospitality Partner, Centerplate, worked with us to feature these on gameday as part of “Oysters and Pearls” package.

Ocean Conservancy and NFL Huddle for 100 Super Bowl LIV Cleanup, Historic Virginia Key Beach Park

Our final O2E cleanup of the 2019-2020 NFL season took place at the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park. More than 100 volunteers joined Arizona Cardinals player, Kenyan Drake, and former NFL Kicker, Jay Feely, to help us hit our goal of removing and diverting 54 tons of ocean plastic and other waste from Florida’s coasts.

Ocean Conservancy Booth at Super Bowl LIVE

Grammy winner, Lil Nas X was one of an estimated 100k visitors that spent time at our booth in Super Bowl LIVE during Super Bowl Week. Visitors saw our Florida report, Currents & Crossroads come to life, tried their hand at ocean trivia and experienced the ocean through Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab’s Ocean experience.

Plastic Football at Super Bowl Experience, Miami Beach Convention Center

Fans and visitors to the NFL Experience and Radio Row at Miami Beach Convention Center saw a marine debris football sculpture in the lobby throughout Super Bowl week. OC donors Ryan Moralevitz and Enzo DeFerrari designed the sculpture and OC was mentioned in accompanying sign.

Florida Keys Boat Based Cleanup Pt. II

We’re going to need another cleanup! After the success of our first boat-based cleanup in the Keys in November 2019, we partnered up again with the Lower Keys Guides Association for another one.

Miami Hotels Offer Ocean Friendly Vacations and Feature Gulf Wild Seafood

Florida and the hospitality industry are intertwined like no other state—both thrive when our ocean and coasts are healthy and vibrant. That’s why The Mandarin Oriental Miami and The Palms Hotel & Spa Miami Beach took action and gave back to the waters that bring millions of visitors to South Florida hotels each year.

City of Miami Shores Forward Partnership

Ocean Conservancy launched Shores Forward—a partnership with local leaders in the fight to conserve Florida’s most treasured assets: our ocean and coasts. The City of Miami (our first Shores Forward partner) is working with us to take action on water quality, marine wildlife, education and outreach, ocean trash and carbon pollution.

NFL’s My Cause My Cleats Initiative

Players from coast to coast joined #TeamOcean by choosing to put our ocean on display when their teams took the field on Sunday, December 8, 2019. In all, seven players chose to support Ocean Conservancy for the 2019 edition and represented teams from across the country (San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars).

Sugarloaf Showdown and Veteran’s Month Remote Cleanup in the Florida Keys

Ocean Conservancy proudly sponsored the 2019 Lower Keys Guides Association’s Sugarloaf Showdown, a fishing tournament that draws anglers from all over the country every year. Our sponsorship helped the tournament go single-use plastic-free for the very first time. It also allowed our organization the honor of providing world-class fishing opportunities for members of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing. Following the tournament, Ocean Conservancy hosted a remote clean-up in the waters and on the islands surrounding Key West. Together, we collected more than 4,000 pounds of trash in just a few short hours.

Ocean Conservancy and Miami Dolphins Tri-County Cleanups, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties

The Miami Dolphins once again showed their support for their local beaches across South Florida. The team’s Special Teams Volunteers and club officials spent the day with Ocean Conservancy staff and volunteers cleaning up Spanish River Park, in Palm Beach County, Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park, in Broward County and Crandon Park, in Miami-Dade.

International Coastal Cleanup and Launch of SuperCleanupChallenge/54 Tons Goal, Historic Virginia Key Beach Park

For the 34th annual International Coastal Cleanup, volunteers joined Ocean Conservancy, the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee and Everglades Foundation at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park to launch the #SuperCleanupChallenge.

Oleta State Park Dune Restoration and Cleanup with Friends of Oleta State Park and Miami Dolphins

We partnered with Friends of Oleta State Park and the Miami Dolphins’ Special Teams Volunteers on a Dune Restoration Project and beach cleanup at Oleta State Park in Miami.

Earth Day Cleanup at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park

The official launch of the Ocean to Everglades (O2E) initiative took place at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park with support from the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee, Everglades Foundation, NFL Green, Florida Governor Ron DeSanits, Mayor of Miami-Dade County Carlos A. Giménez, Vice Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium, Tom Garfinkel and Executive Director of Historic Virginia Key Beach, Guy Forchion.

FOX Sports U, University of Florida Super Bowl LIV Campaign Contest, Gainesville

Ocean Conservancy joined FOX Sports U and the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee to hear pitches from University of Florida Journalism students on environmental initiatives for Super Bowl LIV. Winning teams had a chance to see their ideas implemented during Super Bowl week along with a trip to Miami.

February Partnership Announcement with Miami Super Bowl Host Committee, Perez Art Museum, Fishing Outing and Cleanup at Morningside Park

To announce our partnership with the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee, we focused on our two main goals, removing ocean plastic and waste from Florida’s coasts and highlight healthy fisheries which make Florida the sport fishing capital of the world. We did that with a beach cleanup at Morningside Park and a fishing outing with Captain Ray Rosher, the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee and the Miami Herald’s Adam Beasley.