The Caitlin Clark effect: Minneapolis hotels host 200K during Big Ten tourney

The Iowa phenom started a conversation about better ways to compensate college stars.

The Big Ten women’s basketball tournament – with Iowa phenom Caitlin Clark the headline draw – generated a substantial economic boost to downtown Minneapolis.

Hotels in Minneapolis saw a massive increase in bookings last week, with an estimated 200,000 people visiting while the tournament was hosted at the Target Center, including huge numbers of Iowa fans.

Meet Minneapolis spokesperson Kevin Kurtt said hotels in the city sold nearly 60,000 rooms during the week of March 3 to 9.

Mar 10, 2024; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (22) signs autographs for fans after the game at Target Center.

Aside from the basketball tournament, the city also hosted the American Physical Society March Meeting at the Minneapolis Convention Center from March 3 to 8.

Here’s a breakdown of last week’s hotel occupancy numbers, courtesy of Smith Travel Research via Meet Minneapolis:

Tuesday, March 5 – the night before the start of the tournament – saw the highest amount of hotel rooms booked in Minneapolis (9.991), surpassing the 9.888 mark set twice in 2023 on June 13 and 23.

March 5 was also the highest hotel occupancy percentage (97.3%) since October 24, 2019 (97.5%).

The week of March 3 to 9 saw the highest occupancy weekly rate (82.9%) since Oct. 6-12, 2019 (83.1%).

Minneapolis hotels also saw more than $11.5 million in total guest room revenue.

The city is expected to see another bumper crowd this week due to ongoing events being hosted in Minneapolis, such as:

“Attendees of large events in the city bring a significant boost to Minneapolis’ economy by visiting local businesses, restaurants, bars, breweries and attractions, and staying at Minneapolis hotels, thereby generating lodging, entertainment, restaurant, liquor and sales taxes for the city and supporting the tens of thousands of tourism and hospitality workers in Minneapolis,” Kurtt said.

Downtown Minneapolis hotel occupancy finished 2023 on a high note, with Meet Minneapolis saying it recorded its strongest overall year since 2019

Demand for hotel rooms increased more than 15% year-over-year, generating around $10.5 million in lodging taxes from nearly two million hotel bookings in 2023.