SportsEngine partners with HotelPlanner to launch white label hotel booking tool

SportsEngine recently unveiled that it has selected HotelPlanner as its official travel partner through a multi-year agreement.

The partnership integrates HotelPlanner’s hotel booking technology into SportsEngine’s room block feature, giving sports organizations the ability to manage travel arrangements within the platform they already use for registration, scheduling, and communications.

HotelPlanner, founded in 2003, operates as a travel technology company and hotel booking platform. The company combines artificial intelligence with a 24/7 global, gig-based reservations network and customer service operation. It has over the years turned into a powerful tool for bookings and is one of the first company to integrate an agentic AI to manage bookings.

This infrastructure and knowledge will now support booking requests originating from SportsEngine customers.

The white-label option allows administrators to create branded booking engines that facilitate direct bookings and group hotel requests from their member families. Organizations can customize the booking experience while accessing HotelPlanner’s inventory and pricing systems.

Technology Stack Behind the Integration

“We are thrilled to partner with SportsEngine,” said Tim Hentschel, Co-CEO of HotelPlanner. “This collaboration will streamline hotel marketing for event organizers and deliver an exceptional experience with unmatched pricing and options for teams.”

The integration provides access to HotelPlanner’s hotel inventory through SportsEngine’s interface, removing the need for separate booking platforms or manual coordination between tournament directors and hotels.

SportsEngine’s technology serves thousands of small and medium-sized youth sports organizations, tournaments, the Governing Body community, professional sports leagues, and over 1,000 municipalities with youth sports programs. The company reports its platform helps organizations reduce administrative time, allowing them to focus on athlete development.

The hotel booking feature targets a practical pain point: coordinating accommodation for traveling teams, tournament participants, and event attendees. By embedding this capability within SportsEngine’s existing tools, the company aims to consolidate travel planning with other administrative functions.

Market Context for Travel Tools in Youth Sports

Dan Burquist, Senior Vice President at SportsEngine, explained the strategic fit: “Our collaboration will help provide families and teams with an affordable, streamlined, seamless booking experience that will help set them up for success.”

Travel represents a significant operational component for youth sports organizations, particularly those managing regional or national tournaments. Coordinating hotel blocks, securing group rates, and communicating options to families typically requires substantial staff time and separate vendor relationships.

“Travel is an integral part of today’s youth sports and events, and we’re excited to partner with HotelPlanner to simplify travel for our SportsEngine customers,” Burquist added.

The white-label functionality preserves organizational branding while outsourcing the technical infrastructure and hotel network management to HotelPlanner. This approach allows smaller organizations to offer booking services without building proprietary systems or negotiating individual hotel contracts.

Strategic Implications for Platform Consolidation

The partnership reflects a broader trend in youth sports technology: consolidating multiple administrative functions into single platforms. SportsEngine already handles registration, payments, scheduling, and communication. Adding hotel booking extends the platform’s scope into travel logistics.

For HotelPlanner, the agreement provides distribution to thousands of youth sports organizations through an established platform. Rather than marketing directly to individual clubs or tournament directors, the company gains access through SportsEngine’s existing customer relationships.

The multi-year term suggests both companies expect sustained adoption of the integrated booking feature. Implementation details, including rollout timeline and specific feature availability, were not disclosed in the announcement.

Organizations using SportsEngine Play, the company’s streaming service, will have access to the new hotel booking functionality as part of the broader platform integration.

(Source: Youth Sports Business Report)