Travel + Leisure Co. announced Tuesday that the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center — a historic downtown hotel at 201 Lafayette Street — will be converted into a Sports Illustrated Resort in a $40 million renovation project backed in part by LSU alumnus Shaquille O’Neal.
According to the Baton Rouge Advocate, the Hilton will continue operating through 2026, with renovations beginning in early 2027, and the rebranded property expected to open by the end of that year. The 291-room hotel will be scaled down to 137 bookable rooms with 42 condominiums added, along with a Sports Illustrated bar, restaurant, and fitness center.
“For generations, people have looked to Sports Illustrated to capture the most defining moments in sports, the moments that stay with us, inspire us, and become part of our shared memory,” Travel + Leisure CEO Michael Brown said. “Sports Illustrated Resorts brings that idea to life, and now we’re bringing it to Baton Rouge.”
The Sports Illustrated Resorts concept has been expanding into college towns since 2023, when Tuscaloosa was announced as SI’s first college-town location, built around Alabama’s fan base across the Black Warrior River from campus.
Renderings for the new Sports Illustrated Resort coming soon to Tuscaloosa, which seems to be going for a “Live Laugh Love for Dudes” aesthetic. pic.twitter.com/Rqq7V5286i
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 20, 2023
In addition to Tuscaloosa, the resort portfolio includes Orlando, Chicago, Nashville, Mississippi, and now Baton Rouge. It conspicuously does not include Ann Arbor, where the city council voted down a Sports Illustrated Resort proposal in early 2024, partly over the specifics of the deal, partly because residents didn’t want Ann Arbor turned into a tourist destination, and partly because of the brand itself, with some residents objecting to the imagery on the resort’s website.
“I just don’t think it’s the right fit,” councilmember Jen Eyer said at the time. “I don’t think the brand is the right fit.”
Apparently, those in the SEC have fewer such reservations.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.