• by Ray Schultz , September 20, 2023

Sports-happy college towns will soon have Sports Illustrated-themed resorts and lifestyle complexes, thanks to a collaboration between Travel & Leisure Co. and Sports Hospitality Ventures, the hotel and resorts licensee for the SI brand. 

The first college town resort will be in Tuscaloosa, the home of the University of Alabama. It will include a hotel, vacation ownership club, an SI fit health/wellness center and other attractions.  

Each future “campus” will also offer residential condominiums. And all will integrate almost 70 years' content from Sports Illustrated. 

The resorts will celebrate “not only the legacy of Sports Illustrated, but the path it is on now, by immersing our guests in sports culture and providing the best entertainment, cuisine, fitness, health and wellness to our guests,” says Christopher Schroeder, CEO of Sports Hospitality Ventures.

“Our vision for this entirely new vacation club is to provide members a unique opportunity to totally immerse themselves in gameday life with a piece of their favorite college town, plus flexibility to travel away with their team and beyond,” adds Geoff Richards, chief operating officer of vacation ownership at Travel + Leisure Co. 

The first Sports Illustrated Resorts property opened in 2022 in Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic.