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Hosting sports teams can be a consistent and lucrative source of revenue for hotels that are able to fulfill the specific needs of professional athletes. To fill a gap in information about professional teams' needs, this study sampled teams in Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the National Basketball Association. Although the players have some concerns in common, the study found that teams in each sport have specific requirements. Moreover, each individual team's policies determine the services a team will want during its stay at a hotel. All professional teams want security, enough rooms for single occupancy, and smooth front-desk service. Unlike baseball and basketball teams, football teams need breakout space for team meetings and require carefully controlled in-house food service. Basketball players appreciate extralarge beds and late-night food service.
Keywords: professional sports team market; hotel industry; NFL; NBA; Major League Baseball
Sports travel in the United States has become a $27-billion business. More than 75 million American adults reported traveling to attend a sporting event as either a spectator or as a participant in the past five years.1 Sports teams are a key segment in sports travel. Thousands of traveling sports organizations in America annually seek hotel accommodations. Because they return year after year, professional teams can be a steady source of revenue if hotels are able to secure repeated visits from the teams. Sportstravel spending is seemingly immune to economic recession; for example, spending on sports in the United States has been slowed only by major wars, but not by the Depression.2 Neither was it affected by post-September 11 fears.3
In addition to revenues from direct room and food and beverage (F&B) sales, hotels can benefit from other expenditures by the organizers of the games or the out-of-pocket expenses of the athletes and spectators.4 Additional revenues are generated from accommodating visiting fans and members of the press, as well as providing for pregame meals, team meetings, booster meetings, awards banquets, and rallies. Moreover, establishing a good relationship with the athletes and staff can go a long way after the sports season, if players and fans enjoy their stay at a particular hotel.
Professional sports teams make up the major portion of the market of sports participants (as opposed to...