Pro teams are avoiding Trump hotels: report

Trump properties used to serve as housing for professional sports teams on the road. But since President Donald Trump started campaigning and took office, that’s no longer the case.

Last season, Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago didn’t host the Los Angeles Dodgers when they faced the Cubs in the NLCS despite staying there earlier in the season. Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez refused to stay in the large tower located on the Chicago River and the team changed hotels.

But Gonzalez and the Dodgers are hardly alone in seeking different lodging and distancing themselves from the Trump brand.

The Washington Post reportedon Thursday that none of the 105 franchises across four major sports leagues that responded to the newspaper’s survey said they stayed at a Trump hotel when traveling.

The Post reached out to all 123 teams in the four major U.S. sports leagues to find out how many teams are still Trump customers.

Seventeen teams stayed at a Trump hotel within the past seven years, according to the report. But after President Trump made the decision to run for office in 2015, that number dropped significantly. At least 16 of those 17 teams found other hotel accommodations during the 2015-16 season.

Eighteen teams declined to respond to The Washington Post’s survey and 71 of the responses said their teams hadn’t stayed at a Trump hotel within the last seven years.

Trump SoHo used to be the place where more than a third of the NBA stayed when they had games in New York. At least 12 teams had previously stayed at the luxury hotel since it opened in 2010, but that’s not the case anymore.

A person with knowledge of the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to drop Trump SoHo told The Washington Post that the Trump organization “was seen as not reflecting the franchise’s values, and some players were not comfortable patronizing its properties.”

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