Sports culture is eating the world

Disclaimer: this article is not sponsored by Lacoste, although it could have been …

The Olympic Games and the Euro Football Cup are approaching, Zendaya is On Running’s new ambassador, Rolland Garros - Alcaraz’s beautiful victory, and tennis-core fashion styles are being rocked all around towns, without forgetting the oh-so thriving golf-core of the moment best represented by the Kith x Jimmy Fallon’s latest ad. It is that season of the year again, folks, and if you have not noticed, the sport cultural revolution is on a high and it only seems to be getting higher at this point. As Lacoste metaphorically showed the world with its latest immaculate campaign, the sports crocodile is eating the world.

It has never been sexier to be sporty. Let us be honest with each other for a minute: it does not always involve exercise for the many (although for some it does) but never has sport been a way of life, a social (and fashion) statement, to the extent that it is now.

When it comes to hospitality, there are huge opportunities.

It has now become anchored in people’s expectations that their hotel should have an interesting wellness experience beyond the traditional gym with the “few weights on the mat”. Two trends have emerged.

The first trend has to do with concepts that entirely revolve around sports; we expect more and more players to emerge in that category. The best example is Siro hotel in Dubai and Montenegro. Think luxury and sport facilities good enough for Alcaraz or Mbappé. In fact, they even have a partnership with AC Milan and their PR release show none other than Zlatan Ibrahimović training in their impressive facilities. The whole experience has been built around training, recovery, wellness advice from leading world experts and athletes.

On a different note, Hotel Hoy in Paris is centred around wellness and yoga, a haven for yogis, offering many treatments and alternative therapies.

The second key trend is that of hotels with an original sports offer, such as Aman hotels, who are now offering tennis classes as part of their wellness offer with the one and only Maria Sharapova.

Hotels capitalise on those concepts beyond the sport offer with up-sell and cross-sell of merchandise further fuelling the “social statement” opportunities. Another great example is the Brach hotel in Paris who has a fully fledged premium sports club in its premises including kickboxing, pilates, swimming etc. and an army of experts: sports coaches, osteopaths, naturopaths, physiotherapists, dieticians and therapists.

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The world of opportunities for hotels and sports concepts is gigantic and it goes beyond being a new source of revenue. The explosive emergence of sport clubs from cycling to running communities, created or sponsored by brands such as Rapha or On Running, suggests something deeper than a simple financial opportunity. Community-building is the real opportunity. Hotels who seize it deliver on another consumer expectation for their hotels to be places of life and community, providers of a new art of living and hence an opportunity for long-term guest engagement and loyalty.