BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (THE WORLD) – Hotels and restaurants in the Birmingham area are preparing to welcome hundreds of United States Football League (USFL) players and staff as temporary residents this spring.
Fox Sports’ USFL league is expected to announce Birmingham as the host city for the 2022 season during a media event on Tuesday.
The City of Birmingham and the Jefferson County Commission both approved money for the league, which is expected to be televised nationwide.
The hospitality industry is expected to reap the rewards of players, coaches and families in Birmingham.
“They won’t be coming back and forth to their respective cities. All games, all training sessions and all nights during leagues will take place in the city of Birmingham,” said Birmingham City Councilor Hunter Williams.
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Hotels near the stadium are likely to have the biggest impact. Williams said the league has agreed to stay nights in hotels in the Birmingham city limits.
“We will have an estimated average of 40,000 room nights at a market price. These are not subsidized by the City of Birmingham or any other government agency,” Williams said.
The increased demand for rooms would come at an already active time for many hotels in the Birmingham area. Graduations, weddings and other sporting events are also on the agenda this spring.
“There’s the SWAC tournaments that happen in the spring for basketball and then there’s also the SWAC athletics and both Birmingham are hosting those tournaments,” said Angela Howell of The Hilton Birmingham at UAB.
Hilton Birmingham at UAB is 2 miles from Protective Stadium. Howell said she’s excited about the potential impact of the USFL, but it’s too early to say how big the league draw will be.
“I know there’s some excitement behind ‘Hey They’re Coming Back’ and of course there are some fans who remember when they were last here, so we’ve had some feedback on that, but at this point is it us? I’m just not sure what those numbers are going to be like,” he said.
The Central Alabama Hospitality Business and Attractions Association hopes the impact will be felt beyond the city of Birmingham.
“The hope is that downtown compression will displace our guests and tourists who will be coming to our outer hotels throughout Jefferson County in the spring season,” said Jennifer Gowers, CAHABA chairwoman.
Gowers said hotels are preparing to accommodate a multitude of people associated with the USFL.
“Every team in the league. Employees. television crews. Everything. We know they will be mostly in downtown hotels. What we’re looking for as an association and other hotels is the compression factor, fans are coming to town,” Gowers said.
Hotels outside of Birmingham could also benefit from potentially fewer vacancies in the city centre.
“We know downtown is going to be crowded and certainly going to be filled with some of the things we talked about, but then the meetings they can’t take and the hotel room options they might not have, what will compress out to Hoover?” said Paul Dangle of the Hyatt Regency Birmingham, the Wynfrey Hotel.
The Wynfrey typically hosts other major sporting events such as the SEC Media Days. Dangle isn’t sure what to expect from the 2022 USFL season, but he’s optimistic about the results.
“We look forward to a busy spring, summer and fall of 2022,” said Dangle.
More details from the USFL are expected to be released during an announcement on Tuesday.
