The National Football League (NFL) has generated an average impact of $75 million on hotel room revenue during the past eight seasons, according to a study by STR’s consulting and analytics division. In 2015, the NFL had a net impact of $77 million on hotel room revenue.
For the purposes of its analysis, STR matched every NFL game since 2008 with its respective home city to determine the impact on local hotels. Neutral site games like the Super Bowl and the International Series were excluded. STR also determined normalized levels of demand and room rate performance based on weekly and monthly fluctuations as well as overall seasonality.
Key findings from the analysis included:
- In 2015, two franchises produced a room revenue impact over $10 million on their respective city’s hotels: the New Orleans Saints ($16.2 million) and Green Bay Packers ($11.1 million).
- Four franchises produced a room revenue impact of $6 million or higher as a visiting team in 2015: the Carolina Panthers ($7.8 million), Chicago Bears ($6.4 million), Atlanta Falcons ($6.1 million) and Denver Broncos ($6 million).
- The game between the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers on Dec. 6, 2015, was the most impactful game of the 2015 season with a net room revenue impact of $5.1 million.
- In 2015, the highest impact game in terms of demand and room rate increases came between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 13, 2015. Occupied room nights in Green Bay increased 163.4%, while average daily rate increased 222.8%.
- Stadiums located in smaller markets and suburban submarkets tend to be the most consistent in terms of positive impact: Green Bay, Wisconsin; Orchard Park, New York; Landover, Maryland; Glendale, Arizona; and Arlington, Texas. However, due to the smaller hotel room population, the absolute impact is not always as significant compared to larger markets.
The study also found that a significant portion of the NFL’s impact on hotel room revenue is determined by the schedule itself due to season-by-season changes. Key factors that determine the overall impact include the time of year, day of week, seasonality of the host market, strength and distance of each fan base and the overall importance of the game. Some games may actually have a negative impact on their market if they displace other business and/or discounted rates in effect when the game occurs.
