A development framework for Sports Illustrated hotels
Travel + Leisure Co. and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announced a development partnership on 5 October 2026. The framework covers the build, operation and scaling of hotels under the Sports Illustrated Resorts brand. Travel + Leisure Co. released it through Business Wire at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.
The framework lets a developer or an asset owner build a standalone hotel under the brand. It also allows a hotel inside a larger mixed-use destination that carries vacation ownership, residences or both.
Travel + Leisure Co. keeps the brand and the management
Travel + Leisure Co. holds brand stewardship, mixed-use development and management. The company operates Sports Illustrated Resorts under a licence from Authentic Brands Group. Michael Brown, its president and chief executive, called traditional hotels the next chapter for the platform.
Wyndham supplies loyalty and distribution
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts supplies the loyalty, distribution and marketing infrastructure. The company will use its hotel-community relationships to identify development partners and asset owners. Wyndham Rewards carries more than 126 million enrolled members.
The release sets out a development framework. It records no joint venture, no equity split and no capital commitment from either company.
University towns, big cities and sports destinations
Geoff Richards, chief operating officer for vacation ownership at Travel + Leisure Co., told Hotel Dive the brand pursues three groups. They are university towns with large athletic programs and strong alumni communities, high-density urban markets with major teams and venues, and destination markets with established tourism and a sports connection.
Nashville, Chicago, Baton Rouge and Tuscaloosa
Sports Illustrated Resorts Nashville is welcoming owners and guests. The 185-suite property sits on Music Row, and the release calls it the first fully branded destination. Chicago operates in what the companies call a preseason era, with completion and the full brand offering expected in early 2027.
Baton Rouge is the first confirmed resort to include a hotel component, with a phased opening planned for later in 2027. Tuscaloosa is the brand’s first ground-up resort and is expected to open in 2028.
Conversions enter the owner proposition
David Wilner, chief development officer at Wyndham, told Hotel Dive that an owner can convert an existing property under the brand. Wyndham sees room in conversions and in new construction. Participating hotels connect into Wyndham’s global distribution platform and its direct booking channels.
The platform and the market behind it
Travel + Leisure Co. introduced Sports Illustrated Resorts in 2023 as a network of sports-themed destinations in college towns and leisure markets. The release describes a brand carrying a nearly 70-year legacy. The two companies already work together across Club Wyndham, Margaritaville Vacation Club and Eddie Bauer Adventure Club.
Hotel Dive cites a Research and Markets report from August 2026. That report projects the global sports tourism market to grow about 40 percent from 2025 to 2031, to 957.91 billion dollars.
Hotel Dive places Hilton alongside the brand in the college-town market. Graduate Hotels and Undergraduate by Hilton both serve that segment.