More Than Just a Game? Corporate Social Responsibility and Super Bowl XL

Kathy Babiak
Richard Wolfe

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown in importance to sport organizations as well as to the mega-events run by these organizations. This paper explores CSR initiatives related to Super Bowl XL in Detroit. Using Carroll’s (Carroll, 1979, 1999) framework of CSR, we outline some of the key community outreach efforts initiated by the NFL and the Super Bowl Host Committee, and further, we discuss the ways in which these efforts might help in building the NFL’s image as a professional sport league that takes its social responsibility seriously.