Sporting Events and the Derived Demand for Hotels: Evidence From Southeastern Conference Football Games

Abstract

The impact of sporting events on local economies has been a focus of academic research for many years. Sporting events create externalities within the local economies in the form of spillover effects. This study investigates the role of Southeastern Conference collegiate football games on local hotel demand from 2003 to 2017. Fixed effects models are used to expand upon previous research by incorporating six data sources to analyze the impact of team, game, hotel, and market characteristics on hotel performance. Results indicate that the demand for hotels varies greatly according to team and opponent quality. A number of sport marketing, sport economics, hospitality, and tourism management implications are discussed for universities and industry in their communities regarding scheduling and the potential for revenue growth.