This week’s roundup covers Airbnb’s $1 million commitment to environmental protection, Casago’s sale of former Vacasa markets, fresh data from AirDNA on college football, and new STR regulations in Riverside County, CA. Let’s dive in.
Airbnb announced $1 million in funding on Monday to support environmental protection efforts across Washington state. The funding will go to Washington’s National Park Fund, Trout Unlimited, Leave No Trace, Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, and EFM for projects focused on protecting national parks, restoring waterways, promoting responsible recreation, and more. Airbnb is also working with Leave No Trace and Washington-based hosts to include Leave No Trace educational content in their listings, helping guests better understand how to protect natural areas.
Casago announced that it has officially completed the sale of all former Vacasa markets following its $130 million acquisition of Vacasa in 2025, previously covered in Industry News on May 2nd, 2025. The acquisition created a combined portfolio of more than 40,000 vacation rental properties and brought together Vacasa’s centralized operating model with Casago’s local franchise model. From the beginning, Casago planned to transition the former Vacasa markets to local ownership. All of those markets are now managed by local franchise owners, destination-based operators, and large regional property managers.
AirDNA released an interesting article this week examining the impact of college football home games on short-term rental revenue. AirDNA analyzed data from 32 SEC and Big Ten markets and found that average occupancy exceeded 80% during home-game weekends in 22 of them in 2025, and in smaller college towns, such as Tuscaloosa, AL, and Oxford, MS, those weekends accounted for as much as 25% of annual short-term rental revenue. Looking ahead to the 2026 season, several markets have already reached 60% occupancy for the majority of their home-game weekends, and rates in 21 of the 32 markets are currently at least 20% higher than non-game weekends. For vacation rental operators in college football markets, now is a great time to evaluate pricing and make adjustments for the season.
In short-term rental regulation news, Riverside County, California’s fourth-most populous county, passed a new set of short-term rental regulations on Tuesday following a 5-0 vote. The changes affect roughly 1,100 vacation rentals in the county’s unincorporated areas. Under the new rules, three citations will now result in the suspension of a short-term rental certificate, and five will trigger the revocation process. The county also removed the 60-minute correction period previously given to operators to address a complaint and extended enforcement hours.
As the college football season gets underway, and local governments continue to refine short-term rental rules, the vacation rental market continues to take shape in 2026. Check back next week for the latest news!