Two of my favorite acronyms to dissect: RevPAR and NFL.
Reading over a recent report that a Homewood Suites/Hilton Garden Inn joint-build property outside of Jacksonville, Florida, was allegedly vandalized by an upset football fan after a Sunday game, it got me thinking about the affects of sports on hotel performance.
Clearly the Super Bowl draws a tremendous amount of demand to hotels in the city in which the game is being hosted and the industry responds accordingly with ramped up rates and promotions tailored to fortunate fans.
But what about the rest of the year? Do hotels in markets that also host an NFL football team fair better than those who don’t?
Further, is there any correlation between how well a team is performing as compared to forecasted demand toward the end of the NFL season?
Let’s take a look at the top 25 United States markets in terms of number of rooms as determined by STR. It’s interesting to see how many of those cities host football teams; more interesting to see how well the teams in those cities are performing six weeks in to the season; and even more interesting to see if there is a direct correlation between current team performance and forecasted revenue per available room for the remainder of the year.
Note: This 2010 year-end forecast, dividing the top 25 markets by their forecasted RevPAR growth, was presented by Mark Lomanno at the Hilton Worldwide Global Conference on 14 October 2010.
10% to 15% forecasted RevPAR increases
| City |
Team |
W-L Record (winning percentage) |
| Boston, Massachusetts |
New England Patriots |
4-1 (.800) |
| Denver, Colorado |
Denver Broncos |
2-4 (.333) |
| New Orleans, Louisiana |
New Orleans Saints |
4-2 (.667) |
| New York New York |
Giants/New York Jets |
4-2 (.667)/5-1 (.883) |
| Totals |
|
19-10 (.655) |
5% to 10% forecasted RevPAR increases
| City |
Team |
W-L Record (winning percentage) |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana, California |
none |
none |
| Atlanta, Georgia |
Atlanta Falcons |
4-2 (.667) |
| Chicago, Illinois |
Chicago Bears |
4-2 (.667) |
| Detroit, Michigan |
Detroit Lions |
1-5 (.167) |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach, California |
none |
none |
| Miami-Hialeah, Florida |
Miami Dolphins |
3-2 (.600) |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota |
Minnesota Vikings |
2-3 (.400) |
| San Francisco-San Mateo, California |
San Francisco 49ers |
1-5 (.167) |
| Seattle, Washington |
Seattle Seahawks |
3-2 (.600) |
| Totals |
|
18-21 (.462) |
0% to 5% forecasted RevPAR increases
| City |
Team |
W-L Record (winning percentage) |
| Dallas, Texas |
Dallas Cowboys |
1-4 (.200) |
| Nashville, Tennessee |
Tennessee Titans |
4-2 (.667)
|
| Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia |
none |
none |
| Oahu Island, Hawaii |
none |
none |
| Orlando, Florida |
none |
none |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Philadelphia Eagles |
4-2 (.600) |
| Phoenix, Arizona |
Arizona Cardinals |
3-2 (.600) |
| San Diego, California |
San Diego Chargers |
2-4 (.333) |
| St. Louis, Missouri |
St. Louis Rams |
3-3 (.500) |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
3-2 (.600) |
| Washington, D.C., Washington |
Washington Redskins |
3-3 (.500) |
| Totals |
|
23-22 (.511) |
-5% to 0% forecasted RevPAR decreases
| City |
Team |
W-L Record (winning percentage) |
| Houston, Texas |
Houston Texans |
4-2 (.667) |
| Totals |
|
4-2 (.667) |
If you take into account Houston skews the data because it is the only top 25 market forecasting a decline in revenue per available room for the rest of the year, clearly my correlations are a home run (or touchdown, in this instance). The markets forecasting the biggest RevPAR growth for the remainder of the year, and basically the rest of the season, host the most successful football teams.
But back to that Jacksonville, Florida, Hilton property that started all this crazy talk.
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The Homewood Suites/Hilton Garden Inn joint-build property outside of Jacksonville, Florida, was allegedly vandalized by an upset football fan after a Sunday game.
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In the early hours of 4 October, an individual tampered with a stand pipe valve located on the fifth floor stairwell of the hotel, causing water to spill throughout the fifth floor and flood each floor underneath. The hotel was evacuated and early speculation is that it will remain closed until mid-December, according to a Hilton spokesman.
It’s a seriously unfortunate story. I stayed at this hotel during its grand opening and was impressed with how efficiently the staff operated both brands simultaneously. The hotel’s demand is fueled by guests attending events at the nearby EverBank Field (where the Jaguars play and where the Gator Bowl is held annually). At the time, they were constructing a train station that would shuttle guests to and from the stadium and were partnering with a nearby parking garage to bring in additional sources of revenue. I met, and was impressed with, a few of the team members, who will most-likely be out of work for a few months because of childish behavior from a fan.
So, as popular as the NFL is today and as much as good teams can help fill nearby hotel rooms, it seems there is some risk to that reward.
