Weekly Newsletter 10/4
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INNOVATION IN ACTION
Lodging Preferences by Sports Fans
October is one of the busiest months for the sports industry. MLB, MLS, and NWSL playoffs begin. NFL and NCAA Football regular seasons are both in full swing, and NHL and NBA pre-seasons both commence. As a sponsor or a property, the question is: if you build it, will they really come? And more importantly, which communities are more likely to spend?
Yesterday, Peloton and Hilton announced a partnership that will place Peloton bikes in all 5,400 Hilton branded properties in the United States. Citing their research, Peloton found that "hotel guests have completed 1.6 million Peloton rides so far in 2022.” On the other side of the deal, per Front Office Sports, “a Hilton survey found that 98% of respondents prioritize wellness activities while traveling.”
Hilton is not new to the sports partnership space. They’ve been a McLaren partner since 2015 and have recently added golf to its portfolio including the DP World Tour and the Ryder Cup. When we analyze the number of transactions per community on different types of lodging, Hilton’s move into golf is a smart fan acquisition play. With 3.9 annual transactions per fan on average, it is the lowest among the traditional sports, ahead of only the gaming community. Hilton is angling at acquiring both fitness enthusiasts and golfers with these new partnerships.
*Our data comes from a random panel of 10 million credit & debit card holders in the United States. Transactions portrayed here are from 1/1/2020 through 9/9/2022.
Our initial analysis points to sports fans continuing to prefer hotels over rentals, with tennis and hockey fans leading the way, despite more rentals like Airbnb entering the sports sponsorship landscape. With Airbnb signing on as an Olympic sponsor in 2019, we would have expected the overall share of transactions to have increased among sports fans. These rental companies have immense opportunity to drive brand loyalty through investing more consistently (not just in isolated events) in the sports sponsorship space. Airbnb should find ways to leverage both the market and the athlete programs through The Olympic Sponsors in order to acquire more consumers (and fans).
In our data, we’re able to break down the General Sports Fan (GSF) Community into behavioral fan segments including those who travel (83%) and those who are fitness enthusiasts (60%). Interestingly, more than half (55%) of the GSF Community members are both travelers and fitness enthusiasts.
There is a massive opportunity for rentals like Airbnb and Vrbo to acquire more sports fans through partnerships and promotions. Starting with the tennis and hockey communities, these brands should consider where the largest events in a calendar year are, and find ways to activate locally in and around the events, in order to attract more of the wallet share of more than 80% of sports fans who travel.
HOT NEWS IN SPORT
NWSL: OL Reign Claims Top Seed For Playoffs
The NWSL reached the end of the regular season this past weekend. The OL Reign claimed the 2022 NWSL Shield, which is awarded to the team with the best record at the end of the regular season. The OL Reign beat the Orlando pride this weekend to get them to victory with the opening goal from Megan Rappino, who made her 100th regular season appearance this past weekend. The OL Reign ended 11-4-7 and is the number one seed going into the playoffs, so they will have a first round bye and the home field advantage to start the postseason. This past weekend was the only time the OL Reign had the best record during the regular season, but were able to perform under pressure and get there when it mattered.
Going into the weekend, there was no way of knowing who the top 6 teams were going to be. Following the OL reign are number two Portland Thorns, number three San Diego Wave, number four Houston Dash, number five Kansas City, and number six Chicago Red Stars. The Portland thorns gave up their chance at repeating the NWSL shield when they tied Gotham 3-3.Following a scoreless game against San Diego the North Carolina Courage got the 7th seed, meaning they will not appear in the post season playoffs.
Playoffs begin October 15th, concluding with the NWSL Championship on October 29th at Audi Field in Washington D.C.
OL Reign vs Orlando highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPi-i_yY6v0
Sports Innovation Lab Events
Molly Tissenbaum selected for SBJ’s New Voices Under 30 Class of 2022
Molly Tissenbaum
Congratulations to our Director of Product Molly Tissenbaum on being selected for Sports Business Journal's New Voices Under 30 Class of 2022! This is an amazing accomplishment, and we are so proud of her. More than 200 nominees were considered for this class, and the final 30 honorees were selected for going beyond their normal capabilities and roles to become leaders in their organizations at an extremely young age. This list of talented individuals represents the future of sports business. Molly and the rest of the 2022 honorees will be in a special section of the November 7th issue of SBJ, and they will be recognized at a celebratory event in New York on November 16th. Once again, congratulations Molly, you have a bright future career ahead. We can’t wait to see how you will continue to be a leader at SIL in the coming years. Click here to read the full press release.
If you're ready to create breakthrough fan experiences and connect with the Fluid Fan through technology, visit our website sportsilab.com or email info@sportsilab.com!