Sports Facility Expert Rob Hunden Unveils Groundbreaking Insights at Association of Luxury Suite Directors Conference

CHICAGO, July 16, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Rob Hunden, President & CEO of Hunden Partners (Hunden), a full-service real estate development advisory practice, shared his firm’s annual State of the Industry (SOTI) report on July 15^th at the 2024 Association of Luxury Suite Directors (ALSD) Conference & Tradeshow in Los Angeles. In addition to trends, statistics, and data-driven predictions for major league sports facilities, this year’s report also includes a comprehensive “College Sports Experience” spotlight.  

This is the eighth consecutive year that Hunden has presented its State of the Industry findings at the ALSD conference, and the annual update has become a highly anticipated staple of the event. The report provides a deep historical analysis of the venue marketplace, evaluates current market conditions and the forces driving them, and predicts major league and collegiate venue developments for the coming decades. Key data points address new facility builds, renovations, naming rights deals, and team relocations.  

“It was an honor to present our eighth annual SOTI report, which includes more valuable information than ever,” says Rob Hunden, President and CEO of Hunden Partners. “We are grateful for our partnership with ALSD and are always happy to share the deep data analytics our firm is known for producing.” 

This year’s “College Sports Experience” spotlight series examines the elevation of college sports facilities and developments to improve fan engagement and the visitor experience. With the game itself no longer the sole attraction, Hunden has identified the demand for more comfortable, diverse, and amenity-rich experiences at college sporting events. This shift would transform college athletics into professional-level experiences similar to the ones provided by the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and MLS. In addition, Hunden tracked the evolution of the collegiate power conferences since 1989 as they chase the value of media rights associated with top programs in tandem with a strategy to manage the new NIL (name, image, and likeness) reality of college sports. 

Hunden’s SOTI report also features the annual update on major league venues, with nearly $10 billion committed or underway in new or renovated venues. The report shows that four new major league arenas and stadiums are under construction, with an investment of $6.6 billion. Additionally, six major league facility renovations are currently being proposed or are already underway, boasting an investment of $3.2 billion. According to Hunden’s report, on average, spending on new major league venues is $2.9 billion annually on construction and nearly $750 million annually on renovations over the 2020-2028 period, totaling nearly $4 billion per year in major league stadium investment in North America.  

Hunden Partners’ State of the Industry Report 2024 is available for download at https://hunden.com/downloads/  

About Hunden Partners  

Hunden Partners is the leading global advisor in destination real estate development. The firm offers a full range of project advisory and execution services, including market and financial feasibility, economic and impact analyses, tourism planning and strategy, placemaking action plans, and development implementation for specialty destination assets such as sports facilities, mixed-use, and entertainment districts, convention and expo centers, hotels, entertainment venues, recreation facilities, and other catalytic development projects.   

For more information, please visit https://hunden.com.  

Source: Hunden Partners