Wyndham takes Sports Illustrated Resorts into hotels
Travel + Leisure Co. and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts published a development partnership on 5 October 2026. The framework covers the build, operation and scaling of hotels under the Sports Illustrated Resorts brand. Travel + Leisure Co. released it through Business Wire at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.
A developer can build a standalone hotel under the brand. A developer can also place a hotel inside a mixed-use destination that carries vacation ownership, residences or both.
The roles in the deal
Travel + Leisure Co. keeps brand stewardship, mixed-use development and management. It operates Sports Illustrated Resorts under a licence from Authentic Brands Group. Wyndham supplies the loyalty, distribution and marketing infrastructure, and it will work its hotel-owner relationships to find development partners and asset owners. The release records a framework with no equity split and no capital commitment from either company.
Michael Brown, president and chief executive of Travel + Leisure Co., called traditional hotels the next chapter for the platform. Geoff Ballotti, president and chief executive of Wyndham, said the two companies can build year-round destinations across college towns and major urban markets.
Four destinations carry the brand
Sports Illustrated Resorts Nashville is welcoming owners and guests. The 185-suite property sits on Music Row, and the release calls it the first fully branded destination.
Chicago operates in what the companies call a preseason era. Completion and the full brand offering are expected in early 2027. Baton Rouge is the first confirmed resort to include a hotel component, with a phased opening planned for later in 2027. Tuscaloosa is the brand’s first ground-up resort and is expected to open in 2028.
Conversions join the owner proposition
David Wilner, chief development officer at Wyndham, told Hotel Dive that an owner can convert an existing property under the brand. Wyndham sees room in conversions and in new construction. Participating hotels connect into Wyndham’s global distribution platform and its direct booking channels.
The two companies’ existing ties
The partnership extends a relationship that runs through Club Wyndham, Margaritaville Vacation Club and Eddie Bauer Adventure Club. Those brands connect to Wyndham’s hotels through Wyndham Rewards. The release puts Wyndham Rewards above 126 million enrolled members and calls it the industry’s top-rated hotel rewards program.
The market figure behind the deal
Hotel Dive cites a Research and Markets report from August 2026. That report projects the global sports tourism market to grow about 40 percent from 2025 to 2031, to 957.91 billion dollars.