Sports events are back but stadiums are still not at full capacity, meaning sports teams are looking for other ways to cut costs. Teams spend over $1 million just on hotel rooms, so this is a big area to consider cutting costs. The hospitality sector was one of the hardest-hit industries during the pandemic. Estimated by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, over half of all hotel rooms will remain unoccupied in 2021. With sports teams being one of the first industries to resume travel, there is potential to gain significant savings with hotels.
So how do these teams receive significant savings? By partnering with travel companies that can negotiate deals with hotels. The San Francisco Giants have taken advantage of the situation where they are saving 10 percent on their yearly travel costs. It seems small, yet is saving them $900,000 annually to invest in other areas of their operations. Other sports teams that are working with these companies are the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, and the San Antonio Spurs.
These travel companies, such as Vacayz.com, can also find exclusive hotel inventory for teams to stay at. With better travel accommodations comes better rest for athletes. In various studies of sleep-deprived athletes, male-sports teams athletes had slower sprint times, male and female tennis players had decreased serve accuracy, and slower reaction times were recorded in male collegiate athletes. Thus, well-rested athletes tend to perform better.
