Airbnb announced today that the Morgantown Airbnb host community welcomed 1,000 guest arrivals and earned $100,000 in supplemental income during University of West Virginia home football weekends, helping the city significantly expand lodging capacity and welcome the surge in visitors as hotels reached peak capacity.
This includes a projected 200 guest arrivals and $22,000 in supplemental income during this coming weekend’s Senior Day game versus Oklahoma. This is projected to represent the largest surge of Airbnb guests to Morgantown in the history of the platform.
With local hotels achieving peak occupancy during West Virginia games, the growth of home sharing in Morgantown has allowed the city to host thousands of extra visitors and take full advantage of the unique economic opportunity presented by the football program. This benefits the local merchant community by keeping visitors’ food and shopping dollars within Morgantown’s corporate limits.
At a broader level, West Virginia’s hotels have enjoyed steadily increasing occupancy rates and revenues, illustrating the value to the region as short-term rentals expand lodging capacity during popular events and open up the market to families less able to afford hotels.
Earlier this year, Airbnb announced the #1 most wish-listed Airbnb homes in the top 20 home sharing cities in West Virginia, including Morgantown. That list can be found here.
The game-by-game data can be found in full below:
| Opponent | Weekend | Guest Arrivals | Host Income |
| Youngstown State | September 7-8 | 140 | $10,000 |
| Kansas State | September 21-22 | 160 | $16,000 |
| Kansas (Homecoming) | October 5-6 | 190 | $20,000 |
| Baylor | October 25-27 (Thursday game) | 160 | $14,000 |
| TCU | October 19-20 | 150 | $18,000 |
| Oklahoma — projected | November 23-24 (Friday game) | 200 | $22,000 |
Example of Airbnb Review During West Virginia Home Game:
Olivia
November 2018
Toni and Ted were wonderful! The place is 5 miles from the football stadium – perfect for anyone coming to visit for a football game. Really felt right at home! Adorable dogs are always a plus.
