Residents of the 30-plus cities hosting college bowl games this year are cashing in. They are renting out their homes to traveling football fans via Airbnb.
With one million listings in over 34,000 cities around the globe, Airbnb has created the largest and most trusted platform for converting your home into an instant rental property. Using Airbnb, anyone with an Internet connection can compete for the same tourist dollars that the large hotel chains fight for.
The number of available Airbnb rentals, as well as the demand that exists for them during this year’s big games, varies significantly by city. Two of the biggest bowl games, the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl, provide some of the most interesting insights into the popularity of Airbnb.
New Orleans
New Orleans, which hosts the Sugar Bowl, has over 869 homes currently listed on Airbnb. The accompanying demand is sky-high, with 94% of these homes already booked for the big game. The median price for the remaining properties is $350 per night for the eve of the big game. The influx of football fans coupled with heavy holiday travel has created a frenzy of bookings for New Orleans vacation rentals.
Pasadena
Pasadena, California hosts the Rose Bowl and Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. It is already seeing a significant spike in demand for January 1st, with 79% of available Airbnb listings reserved. There are only 86 total listings in the Pasadena area, but homes close to the Rose Bowl are currently fetching over $1,000 per night.
The potential to make great money on Airbnb is not limited to these popular tourist destinations. In advance of this year’s college football bowl games, Everbooked and Rentingyourplace.com have partnered together to crunch the numbers and show how big the Airbnb opportunity is in every city hosting a college bowl game this season.
Per the above table, the median price for an Airbnb listing in many of the bowl game cities is over $200 for the night of the event. In several cases, occupancy rates are already 80% or more during the night of the game. This gives new hosts an opportunity to capture last minute fans.
“There is a enormous opportunity to earn money and meet some great people in the process,” says Scott Shatford, Founder of Rentingyourplace.com, which provides consulting and analytics to Airbnb entrepreneurs. “Many people can pay their entire month’s mortgage by renting their place for only four days.” Scott also recently developed AirDnA, an Airbnb data and analytics tool that helps entrepreneurs identify rental opportunities and optimize the performance of their properties.
“Once you’re a host, pricing your property to meet demand is one of the most important things you can do.” said David Ordal, CEO of Everbooked. “Our dynamic pricing engine can help hosts figure out what they should charge for game day, as well as every other day of the year. We examine dozens of factors to help properly price your listing, including area hotels, events, seasonal trends and even competition from other Airbnb hosts.
Tips for renting your place during the big game:
Set your price at triple what you think your place is worth.
If you feel your home could normally fetch $100 a night, start at $300 and then begin reducing it by five percent a day until it gets booked. There is nothing worse than getting booked immediately only to later discover that you missed out on hundreds of dollars.
Mention the Big Game in Your Headline
Don’t start off with where you are located or how many bedrooms your place has. Instead catch your audience’s attention by mentioning the big game. “Sweet Sun Bowl Headquarters” or “Amazing Rose Bowl Retreat,” are a few good examples that are likely to catch the eye of bowl game travelers. Getting views is the name of the game.
Set a four night minimum stay.
This will help deter the one night party animal and make sure you are maximizing your property’s value. An added benefit of this is people who pay more are typically more responsible guests.