In a major expansion of their long-standing relationship, hospitality giants Travel + Leisure Co. and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts have announced a new development partnership to build, operate, and scale the Sports Illustrated Resorts brand into the traditional hotel space.
The agreement establishes a flexible, differentiated mixed-use hospitality platform, combining Travel + Leisure’s brand stewardship, management expertise, and sports-themed development model with Parsippany-based Wyndham’s global scale, commercial infrastructure, and loyalty program.
First introduced by Travel + Leisure Co. in 2023, Sports Illustrated Resorts was originally designed as a network of sports-themed resort and lifestyle destinations combining vacation ownership, residential offerings, and leisure experiences.
This new phase expands the platform to include standalone traditional hotels or integrated mixed-use destinations that blend hotel stays with vacation ownership and residential components. The model is structured to give developers and asset owners greater flexibility, with Wyndham leveraging its extensive network across the hotel community to identify prospective partners.
“Opening the door to traditional hotels, in partnership with Wyndham, is the next chapter for the platform, giving us new ways to extend the Sports Illustrated experience to travelers while creating distinctive opportunities for developers and asset owners,” Michael Brown, president and CEO of Travel + Leisure Co. said.
Geoff Ballotti, President and CEO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, emphasized the alignment with high-yield sports tourism.
“Together with Travel + Leisure Co., we have an opportunity to create immersive, year-round destinations across college towns and major urban markets, anchored in unique experiences, distinctive programming and premier sports-centric events,” Ballotti stated. “The result is a highly differentiated offering for developers looking to get into the high-yield sports tourism sector.”
The Sports Illustrated Resorts portfolio is already establishing a footprint across the United States with locations in Nashville, Tenn., Chicago, Ill.; Baton Rouge, La. and Tuscaloosa, Ala.
This latest collaboration builds upon decades of partnership between Travel + Leisure Co. and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. Their cooperative efforts span cornerstone vacation club brand Club Wyndham, as well as experiential concepts like Margaritaville Vacation Club and Eddie Bauer Adventure Club.
These properties connect directly with Wyndham’s massive commercial ecosystem, anchored by Wyndham Rewards—an industry-leading rewards program boasting more than 126 million enrolled members, which serves as a powerful engagement engine for both companies.
Sports Illustrated Resorts is operated by Travel + Leisure Co. under license from Authentic Brands Group.
