Scoring points with guests is not always easy. But leveraging partnerships with local sports teams is a good place to start when it comes to turning overnight visitors into lifelong fans—at least, that’s what Omni Hotels & Resorts is banking on. The hotel company boasts 50/50 joint ventures with both the Dallas Cowboys and the Atlanta Braves to develop two new properties that will provide the consummate experiential package for sports fans and hotel patrons.
First on deck is the Omni Frisco Hotel, which is located on the site of the Cowboy’s new world headquarters in Frisco, Texas. The hotel will have 300 guestrooms and suites, a fine dining venue, a lobby coffee and wine bar, a rooftop pool bar and grill, a luxury retail outlet, and 24,000 square feet of meeting space. It will integrate on two levels with the Ford Center, a 12,000-seat indoor athletic facility shared by the Cowboys, the City of Frisco, and Frisco Independent School District that will host a variety of events.
Omni is also partnering with the Braves to bring a hotel to SunTrust Park, the team’s future home in Cobb County. The hotel will feature approximately 260 guestrooms and suites, approximately 12,500 square feet of meeting space, an elevated pool deck and bar overlooking the plaza and ballpark, and a signature restaurant.
Both hotels will serve meeting groups and business and leisure travelers alike, including sports fans who are attending Cowboys training camp or a Braves game, among other events. Omni’s big-league partnerships benefit discriminating consumers who are looking for a vacation linked to their favorite sports teams. And, from a business perspective, the partnerships represent a way for hotels to get more heads in beds.
Andrew Casperson, vice president of Omni Hotels & Resorts, says the joint ventures give Omni an opportunity to deliver once-in-a-lifetime experiences. “The part we’re really excited about is, for example, if someone wants to get married at the hotel, and they want to get some pictures taken on the pitcher’s mound [at SunTrust Park], the answer to ‘Can we do that?’ is a very simple: ‘Absolutely,’” he says. “We know that we will be able to make those decisions quickly, and it’s exciting.”
Two strong entities, aligned with similar goals and orientations, can make a formidable presence in hospitality. And of all companies, Omni should know, as these partnerships are only the latest examples of the brand’s expanding collection of properties anchoring multipurpose sports developments. Casperson says the company has already experienced success with Omni San Diego’s connection via skybridge to Petco Park, home of the Padres, and Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center’s connection to the College Football Hall of Fame and Museum. By electing to partner with such established and successful corporations, there is a symbiosis that he believes augments the customer experience.
“We’ve seen a proven track record with building properties with these anchors,” says Casperson. “The partnerships were a pretty easy decision, because that experience is going to be unique. They’re lifestyle venues, so many aspects of what they were doing were aligned with our beliefs and where we really wanted to go with our company. We’re the only hotel in both of these new developments.”
While some hotel brands have been designated the “official hotel” of Major League Baseball or the National Football Organization, Omni’s joint ventures with the Cowboys and the Braves take pro sports partnerships to a whole new level. Omni will gain an even higher profile among sports fanatics when the Frisco and SunTrust Park properties open in 2017.
“When you’re part of a development like this, where you can be on the SunTrust pool deck and next thing you know, you feel the energy of the ballpark right down the way, the energy in the development comes alive,” says Casperson. He imagines the lucrative nature of such partnerships will lead more companies to follow a similar model, given the built-in attraction that comes with creating relationships with outside companies.
“I would be shocked if other people didn’t look at it the same way we are. Anyone looking to do something like this should ask: Does it align itself with your company’s future growth plan? Does it align itself with what you stand for today and where you want to go with experience? That’s what really helped us, and sure numbers have to make sense,” he says. “But it’s all about picking the perfect partner, right?”
