Sports Illustrated resorts will only make fandom more expensive

Since America promotes maximum luxury that is far too expensive for the average citizen, A project that combines sport and extravagance is on its way to university towns. Sports Illustrated has already created one Sports themed resort in the Dominican Republic, where the 2023 Swimsuit Edition was filmed. Starting in 2025, similar resorts will be built in communities that are hotbeds of college sports. Luxury, Sports Illustrated and school spirit will collide for the first time in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

For Sports Illustrated to experiment with such an idea in America, college towns are the only option. I don’t think there is enough room near Wrigley Field or Madison Square Garden for horseback riding, scuba diving, or the various other activities on offer.

In college sports, there’s always room for wealthy alumni and supporters to buy more flash, so this is a good business idea from the partnership of Sports Illustrated Resorts, Travel + Leisure Co. and Sports Hospitality Ventures, LLC. With the passion and money that keeps college athletics going, you can spend afternoons chatting in the skybox on campus and later evenings in the lounge while your kids play on the baseball field.

Once again, a toy for the people who don’t feel a punch in the gut every time they get a notification that their car payment is due. I’m sure a nice diving trip after an Alabama win will feel refreshing, but it won’t help attract young sports fans on a large scale.

In this world where 15 seconds and a melody is the best way to get young people’s attention, Data has shown that Generation Z does not play sports as voraciously as previous generations. They grew up in a post-recession world where prices for playing cards, parking and merchandise have skyrocketed while incomes have remained worryingly stagnant.

Disney and Viacom can do their best Nickelodeon and Toy story NFL TV shows to get the next generation of kids excited about sports, but my generation didn’t need to be excited about one RugratsNFL playoff game theme.

Chicago Bulls Playing cards may have been expensive in the 1990s – they were certainly hard to come by – but from 1993 to 1999, Michael Jordan’s Restaurant existed. This is one of the few places where having to wait an hour to get a seat was a great experience.

The restaurant had a gift shop and the TVs were constantly playing NBA Home Video. If I lived near the place, I would have stopped by every day just to catch highlights of my favorite NBA players. When a table was finally ready at Michael Jordan’s Restaurant, a half rack of ribs with a side of fries was only $9.50.

Another creation of the 1990s was the ESPN Zone in major cities. It was like Chuck E. Cheese meets a sports bar. There were enough TVs in the dining area to satisfy a sports bettor, and the gaming area was a sports playground. The price of the experience was the same as a normal restaurant meal.

Experiences like this coupled with VHS tapes of bloopers and big hits that were readily available and Ahmad Rashad hanging out with NBA players every Saturday NBA insider stuff, made sports accessible to children. Lee Corso’s headpiece was as entertaining as any Saturday morning cartoon.

Sport used to be easy to grasp. Today, the cost of watching network television is skyrocketing as cable companies squeeze out subscribers every year by raising rates for access to hundreds of channels, of which most people only saw a handful.

I’m sure weekend ziplining in Tuscaloosa will be a blast for those who can afford it, but expensive places like these Sports Illustrated Resorts are one of the reasons young people aren’t watching games.

They can’t touch it anymore, which leads to them not doing it anymore not feeling anything.