Membership and leisure travel company Travel + Leisure Co. and Sports Hospitality Ventures LLC, the hotel and resorts licensee for the Sports Illustrated brand across North America and the Caribbean, have introduced a new concept for a network of future sports-themed resort and lifestyle complexes located in popular college towns near universities with devoted fan bases.
Every Sports Illustrated Resorts campus is expected to feature a full-service hotel, a vacation club and residential condominiums—all of which will share a cohesive design that immerses guests and owners in iconic moments from nearly 70 years of Sports Illustrated content, according to the companies. All resort campuses will also include a host of branded attractions, from live-action sports and entertainment to dining, wellness and relaxation. In addition to the planned university locations, the broader portfolio of properties is expected to include beach clubs and experience parks located in leading leisure destinations.
“Sports Illustrated Resorts are about hospitality, lifestyle, leisure and entertainment, where we celebrate not only the legacy of Sports Illustrated, but the path it is on now, by immersing our guests in sports culture and providing the best entertainment, cuisine, fitness, health and wellness to our guests,” said Christopher Schroeder, CEO, Sports Hospitality Ventures LLC. “People are seeking differentiated experiences that allow them to be more active and participatory, and Sports Illustrated Resorts are delivering the ultimate experiences for guests through the hospitality destinations we are creating.”
The first Sports Illustrated Resorts property opened in 2022 in Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic. The first major Sports Illustrated Resorts college town destination will be in Tuscaloosa, the home of the University of Alabama. This property will include a full-service hotel, vacation ownership club, signature SI Fit Health/Wellness Center, dining, entertainment and more.
Sports Illustrated vacation club members, for the cost of an initial membership, will receive flexible points-based currency to make repeat resort reservations and utilize offerings from across the growing Sports Illustrated Resorts portfolio.
Travel + Leisure Co. is leveraging its expertise in managing multiple brand partnerships for the development, distribution and management for the new Sports Illustrated vacation club product.
“We’re excited to be working with the Sports Hospitality Ventures team to create a custom club experience for passionate sports fans,” said Geoff Richards, COO, vacation ownership, Travel + Leisure Co. “Our vision for this entirely new vacation club is to provide members a unique opportunity to totally immerse themselves in gameday life with a piece of their favorite college town, plus flexibility to travel away with their team and beyond.”
Through the assistance of Wolfson Partners LLC, and in partnership with Sports Hospitality Ventures and Authentic Brands Group, a brand development, marketing and entertainment company and owner of the Sports Illustrated brand, Travel + Leisure Co. acquired the rights to the vacation ownership business for Sports Illustrated and will develop and operate the sales and marketing of the new Sports Illustrated vacation club, as well as certain Sports Illustrated residential condominiums.
Sports Illustrated residences will be fractional and wholly owned condominiums professionally managed through a partnership between Travel + Leisure Co. and Sports Hospitality Ventures, and will deliver the signature services and amenities offered by Sports Illustrated Resorts to owners designed to support an active lifestyle.
Sports Hospitality Ventures, under license from Authentic Brands Group, launched Sports Illustrated Resorts in 2022 to create new premium, lifestyle resort and entertainment destinations.
Kituwah LLC, the business entity of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, a federally recognized tribe, brings a wealth of hospitality, development and market knowledge as partners of Sports Hospitality Ventures, in addition to a capital commitment of $320 million to expand the Sports Illustrated Resorts brand.
“The Cherokee cultural values have been at the core of our mission at Kituwah LLC since the beginning of this exciting partnership,” said Mark Hubble, CEO, Kituwah LLC. “We look forward to sharing the concepts that have existed in harmony for millennia to the world through the support of the experienced partners we have assembled in this endeavor.”
As the companies begin work on the planned Tuscaloosa resort campus, additional college town destinations are expected to be announced in the future.
“This project is a tangible demonstration of our multibrand strategy to grow our business with new exciting partnerships,” said Michael D. Brown, president/CEO, Travel + Leisure Co. “As the world’s leading membership and leisure travel company, we are uniquely positioned to be able to partner with brands and hospitality companies to develop customized vacation club products for their customers.”
The new resorts are anticipated to be developed using an asset-light development financing model. It is expected that the Tuscaloosa resort will open in late 2025. There is no immediate earnings impact for Travel + Leisure Co., but the company expects this business to drive incremental growth starting in the second half of 2025.