LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Aligning the world’s No. 1 family vacation destination with the worldwide leader in sports, Walt Disney World Resort and ESPN have joined forces to re-brand Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex with the ESPN brand. This partnership will take youth sports to a new level by creating an entertaining and immersive experience for the nearly 2 million athletes, coaches and spectators who come through the Disney sports complex each year.
The project incorporates the signature elements of ESPN throughout the 220-acre facility, which will be renamed ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex starting Feb. 25, 2010. The project aims to take youth sports to the next level by enhancing the experience of athletes and spectators, making them feel like they’ve reached the big time, while also connecting them to their favorite ESPN programs, personalities and elements. It also will provide advertisers new sponsorship opportunities at the grass-roots level.
“Our involvement in the Disney sports complex will provide greater opportunities for us to connect directly with athletes, coaches and fans in a highly immersive way,” said George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN Inc. and ABC Sports, and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks. “Our involvement also provides us with a unique and exciting new media platform that will enable our advertisers and sponsors to reach new customers and bring their products and services to life.”
The re-branding of the Disney sports complex is the latest initiative in the growing sports business at Walt Disney World Resort. In late 2007, the sports complex added additional outdoor playing fields for football, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey competitions. And in 2008, the sports complex opened Jostens Center, a state-of-the-art field house that allows Disney to accommodate twice as many indoor sports events each year. Additional expansion ideas are in development, including a planned state-of-the-art bowling facility.
Disney Sports annually stages more than 250 events and has accommodated approximately 60 different sports involving athletes from more than 70 countries. Among those events are the Atlanta Braves spring training season, Chelsea Football Club events, the Pop Warner Super Bowl, AAU National Championships, Varsity Cheer events, the World Cheerleading Championships, USSSA events and the Walt Disney World Marathon, one of the top marathons in the nation. ESPN televises more than 20 sporting events from the complex, and Walt Disney World Resort and ESPN also annually work together to host the popular ESPN The Weekend event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
