A marquee football game brings the whole community and a trove of visitors far and wide to a college town like Gainesville, Florida. Unfortunately, the way people are getting there is increasingly becoming a problem that we're all going to have to reckon with.
ABC's Gainesville affiliate, WCJB, had the scoop on the extensive array of private planes making the journey ahead of the hyped Florida vs. Texas matchup on October 4. Around 270 jets were expected to touch down at University Air Center and Gainesville Regional Airport over the weekend.
"As far as planning and getting everything ready for these events, it's a big deal," University Air Center operations director Shanon Spears told WCJB. "It's not something that happens every day."
That's probably for the best when you consider the outsized detrimental effect on the planet that each private jet generates. Greenpeace estimates that the per-passenger pollution of a private jet dwarfs that of a commercial flight by up to 14 times, and a train by up to 50 times.
That's no doubt why many are wondering if the exorbitant travel habits of the ultrawealthy need to be under more scrutiny. As it stands, celebrities and the richest individuals in the world seem all too happy to opt for flying private over the methods of commoners, like cars or public transit.
For college football, the impacts of realignment are worsening the impacts of private travel gone amok. What once were regional leagues with rivals a mere 50 or 100 miles away now feature frequent matchups like the Southeastern Conference's Florida vs. Texas game.
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That doesn't even touch "Atlantic" Coast Conference matchups like Stanford vs. Boston College. You can only imagine the pollution generated by a wealthy fan adding that cross-country itinerary to the list.
With extreme weather events growing more severe as a result of the heating planet, reining in pollution will become critical to slowing the rate of rising temperatures. There is some hope that alternative aviation fuel or even innovations like hybrid-electric aircraft could make air travel more sustainable.
In the meantime, though, restoring some sanity to both how college football is being structured and how fans get there could make a big difference.
Unfortunately, the 2025 season is quickly becoming a showcase for how the ultra-rich live by their own rules as tens of thousands of normal fans wait in traffic or for public transit.
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