Sports Illustrated To Launch Sports-Themed College Hotel Resorts, First One In Alabama
"With what money?"
That's what many are wondering after Sports Illustrated announced the first of multiple sports-themed hotel resorts across various big name college towns beginning with the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
The resorts will include a full-service hotel, vacation ownership clubs, condos, dining spots and an "immersive experience" that will cover iconic moments from Sports Illustrated's 70-year history. One local Tuscaloosa politician says that the new resort will be a "game-changer" for the city. The new project will be located at the north side of the city in the Red Mice Loop area and is expected to launch in 2025.
Sports Illustrated is planning to launch hotel resorts across college towns. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
RISKY GAMBLE?
Immediately, I thought of these resorts going the way of the ESPN Zone restaurant chains in the late 1990's. Remember those? They had big names like Shaq and Andre Agassi backing them and were supposed to be the go to destination to watch the biggest sporting events across the country. Needless to say, they didn't work out with ESPN (Disney) shutting all of them down due to the business economics being too challenging.
Is Sports Illustrated - an entity that is struggling within the sports media landscape after closing down its print division - heading toward the same outcome? I mean really, how much revenue are those Martha Stewart swimsuit editions really bringing in?
That depends on how much SI will have to actually finance. According to the resort's press release, Sports Illustrated will only be a partial owner along with Travel + Leisure Co. and Sports Hospitality Ventures.
If the other partners are the ones putting in the majority of the funding with Sports Illustrated putting its name on the outside of the building, that may work. But let's be honest, how many people are really talking about SI these days like they are about other sports media spaces like OutKick? Barstool has various bars across the country that they've setup, but once again SI isn't Barstool.
The University of Alabama will have a Sports Illustrated resort starting in 2025. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
PEOPLE WANT WHAT'S CHEAPEST
The biggest question - do college kids really even care about Sports Illustrated anymore? Will people go out of their way to visit something because of its "immersive experience?" This is college we're talking about, people don't want to go and visit a museum. Or if anything, they want to see what the University has, not what the hotel offers.
Personally I think it'll all come down to price. Be it an Airbnb or a Sports Illustrated hotel or a motel, people will almost always choose the cheapest available option.