South Florida Airbnb operators are cashing in on Super Bowl LIV.
This weekend, new, modern mansions on the Venetian Islands are advertised on Airbnb for $5,000 to $10,000 a night. A five-bedroom villa with a heated pool near Miami’s Brickell neighborhood is asking $4,600 a night.
Nearly 84 percent of all Airbnb listings are booked between now and Sunday, the day of the big game, with hosts expecting more than 70,000 guest arrivals in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, according to Airbnb spokesperson Samuel Randall. Hosts will earn a combined $26.4 million in short-term rental income during Super Bowl LIV week, Randall added.
During Miami’s high winter season, Sebastian Giraldo usually lists a night’s stay at a three-bedroom villa near Brickell on Airbnb for $308. For Super Bowl LIV week, Giraldo is asking five times the rate, or roughly $1,600 a night.
He says his price is comparable to rates for neighboring single-family homes listed on Airbnb, VRBO and Booking.com, the websites and applications used by his short-term real rental, investment and property management company, Stratton Hospitality.
“We do a complete market study of the surrounding properties to arrive at the right price,” Giraldo said. “We are very confident we will get last-minute bookings.”
In the run-up to Super Bowl LIV week, Airbnb executives cautioned hosts not to get overzealous in pricing short-term rentals.
However, a search on the short-term rental site reveals other Airbnb operators are hoping to capitalize on high demand for accommodations generated by the more than 200,000 people descending on Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties for Super Bowl LIV and the satellite entertainment events accompanying the big game.
In Miami Gardens, home to Hard Rock Stadium, the site of Super Bowl LIV, more than half a dozen single-family homes and townhouses are listed for $1,000 to $4,500 a night.
Daily rates for luxury condominiums throughout Miami-Dade, including downtown Miami, Brickell, Edgewater and Miami Beach range from $100 to more than $1,000.
At a workshop earlier this month, Ben Breit, Airbnb’s head of trust and safety communications, advised more than two dozen hosts that exorbitant rate increases would likely mean their properties would not get rented.
“Where we see hosts get hurt is when they multiply prices by 20,” Breit said at the time. “Those people don’t get booked. If you want to raise prices, that is your call. But I encourage you to be careful. Don’t go too crazy.” Randall said Miami-Dade hosts’ average daily rate stands at $180 for the week of Jan. 27 to Feb. 3. In Broward, the average daily rate is $127.
Giraldo said his company has been able to lease 15 out of 35 properties it owns and manages for Super Bowl LIV. He noted some of the Airbnb guests arrived earlier this month and will be here until after the game. “One of them is organizing a few events for Super Bowl,” he said. “She was getting tons of packages delivered to the front door.”
Giraldo also said short-term rentals remain a much more affordable option than staying in a hotel. “If you compare Airbnb and hotels side-by-side, you are looking at about a 20 percent to 50 percent discount,” he said. “The hotels have priced their rooms so much higher.”