US sports arena introduces Ball’s aluminium cup

Sep 14, 2023

Ball Corporation and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) has announced that Ball's aluminum cup will soon be available to visitors at KSE's Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.

This is the first major professional sports arena to introduce the aluminum cups at full scale, debuting during the NBA's Denver Nuggets’ home game against the Phoenix Suns on Friday, 25 October.

Ball Corporation designed the lightweight aluminum cups in response to growing consumer preference for more sustainable products. KSE's Pepsi Center is also home to the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and the NLL's Colorado Mammoth, expanding the aluminum cups offering to professional basketball, hockey and lacrosse fans, as well as concertgoers.

"We’re proud to team up with KSE to bring sports fans at Pepsi Center a sustainable beverage cup option and grow this offering across sports venues in the US," said John A. Hayes, Ball's chairman, president and chief executive. "As a premier sports and entertainment destination in Denver, Pepsi Center is making a meaningful difference on promoting sustainability in its industry. At Ball, we’ve seen lot of excitement for the aluminum cup since launch, and we look forward to NBA, NHL and NLL fans in Denver experiencing them for the first time."

Ball and KSE hope that the introduction of the aluminum cup will inspire good recycling habits. The collaboration between the two Denver-based companies is part of Ball's recently launched pilot program, which will produce a limited supply of aluminum cups through 2020 to meet current customer demand from major sports and entertainment venues seeking to replace plastic cups. The aluminum cups, which will be used at all Pepsi Center events for draft soda and beer products, is a milestone for KSE as it seeks to reduce plastic use and promote sustainability in its venues.

"KSE and the Pepsi Center have prioritized sustainability efforts in recent years, which have brought improvements around limiting energy use and consumption, and enhancing our recycling opportunities is a natural continuation of these efforts," said Jim Martin, president and chief executive of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. "Introducing the aluminum cup option provides a more sustainable game day and event experience for our fans and we are thrilled to be the first professional sports arena to lead this change."

In addition to its sustainability and recycling strengths, the aluminum cup is lightweight, sturdy and cool to the touch. It also can be customised with logos and graphics.

Ball also announced that it will begin construction on its first dedicated aluminum cups manufacturing facility to serve the growing demand for innovative, sustainable beverage packaging for US customers and consumers.

The new aluminum cups manufacturing facility will be adjacent to Ball's existing aluminum beverage can manufacturing plant in Rome, Georgia, and is expected to ramp up production in the fourth quarter of 2020.