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Sports Illustrated's Game Plan for Resorts and Hotels
11.10.2023 - 21:39 / skift.com / Jimmy Buffett / Sean Oneill
Iconic magazine first lent its brand name to a hotel venture in late 2022, when its resort opened in Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic. Yet the forces behind Sports Illustrated Resorts aim to expand its footprint relatively quickly.
The resort brand is a creation of Experiential Ventures Hospitality and Authentic Brands Group. They invested about $3 million to renovate and rebrand a 150-room hotel — the Ancora Cap Cana, owned by Cap Cana Development — to create a vibe for sports fans.
Earlier this year, Kituwah, the development arm of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, agreed to invest more than $300 million in Sports Illustrated Resorts. It took a page from the experiential hospitality playbook of the Seminole Tribe, which since 2007 has been scaling up the Hard Rock brand worldwide.
Kituwah is spending $75 million a year to build four Sports Illustrated resorts from scratch over four years. Its 50% equity control of Sports Illustrated Resorts makes it the largest equity holder.
Its first hotel is planned to open by late 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home to the football powerhouse University of Alabama. Another is set to open in Orlando in 2024.
The joint venture is also in “serious” talks about a spot in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It’s also looking at Sevierville, Tennessee, where Kituwah owns the “Smoky Gap” tourist attraction by “Exit 407: Gateway to Adventure.”
The investors hope they can make Sports Illustrated Resorts as successful as the late Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville hotels.
At first glance, it feels like Sports Illustrated may be a mismatch of a brand for the resort concept. Most people who feel an affinity with the brand are probably over 45.
Yet the resort brand emphasizes intense physical activity. Amenities include surfing simulators, rock climbing, and super-sized gyms, which are more likely to be used by Gen Z and Millennial audiences.
Chris Schroeder, CEO ofExperiential Ventures and of Sports Illustrated Resorts, said he also had a similar thought about the brand until he saw the “massive” crowds attending Sports Illustrated circuit parties around major sporting events like the Superbowl and the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
An SI executive claimed on LinkedIn that the editorial brand’s swimsuit edition alone has a global audience of 10 million. As a tie-in, the 2023 edition of the magazine’s swimsuit issue was partly shot at the Cap Cana resort.
Another risk: Building higher-end resorts in university towns, which typically have several low seasons. Weekly games during sports seasons may draw high-paying crowds on weekends, but the rest of the year might be quiet.
Many university towns fail to deliver high average daily rates, so they tend to attract limited-service hotels. Sports
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