LAKE BUENA VISTA — Walt Disney World is rebranding its sports complex as ESPN Wide World of Sports and stepping up capital spending to make the place more of a sports and visitor draw.
It's part of a strategy to shift 12 years of modest growth into a faster gear by making the 220-acre complex an extension of ESPN, which is also Disney property.
The network nerve center that controls seven cable channels will remain in Bristol, Conn. But ESPN will "double or triple" the 20 events aired annually from the Disney World facility next year and is investing in narrow-casting far more amateur sports events staged there over the Internet on ESPN 360.
"Rebranding with ESPN is one of those, 'Why didn't we do this before?' ideas," said Ken Potrock, senior vice president of Disney Sports Enterprises. He sees Disney becoming the dominant player in the U.S. sports tourism industry that's estimated to grow by $200-million in spending this year to $900-million.
The Wide World of Sports already houses preseason training for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the British Chelsea soccer club and the Atlanta Braves. The Tampa Bay Rays played a regular-season series there. Disney is looking to sign a second major-league spring training deal.
But it's a mistake to think the spread is about pro sport teams, which are only marginally profitable as a tenant.
"Pro sports give us access to prominent sports figures who train here and the credibility with athletes and coaches that our facilities are top notch," Potrock said. "Athletes and coaches love to train where they know the pros train."
The business is more about filling hotel rooms, feeding crowds and selling theme park tickets to amateur athletes and the families and coaches that follow them. From the start, Disney provided a headquarters for the Amateur Athletic Union. That made the complex the stage for 70 AAU championships, a figure that has grown to 180 annual events in 50 sports.
Customers range from the 1,000 high school and college baseball teams that winter in Florida to the national pickleball championship, a game that's a mix of pingpong, tennis and badminton. In addition to 250,000 athletes in 2007, Disney Sports drew 1.2-million spectators that otherwise would not have been in the area. Half stayed in Disney hotels.
The company also is interested in staging more resortwide events like an annual marathon that drew 80,000 participants and spectators in 2007.
The ESPN venture unleashed a minor construction binge. The sports complex doubled both its athletic fields and built a second indoor field house space with room for 16 more basketball courts. Construction starts shortly on a 100-lane bowling alley for the men's and women's opens of a U.S. Bowling Congress tournament that draws 80,000 participants a year over five months in a 30-year deal that begins in 2011. In addition, 32 lanes will be decked out in black light disco decor for public play by 2010.
"We established through Super Bowl promotions long ago what you do after a big sports success," Potrock said. "You go to Disney World."
Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8252.
What's coming?
With Disney Princess merchandise sales beyond $1-billion a year, the Disney Fairies are touted as an encore. Introduced in book form years ago, a sassier Tinkerbell and her four pixie pals star in the first of four DVDs, which hits stores Oct. 28. The characters will reside in a Pixie Hallow "meet and greet" set in the Magic Kingdom starting Oct. 24. Unlike other costumed characters, they talk and tell stories.
What's going?
Pleasure Island, the party-central nightclub district at Walt Disney World, will be history after the six surviving clubs there close for keeps Saturday. Opened in 1986 when former Disney CEO Michael Eisner steered the company's entertainment offerings toward more edge and attitude, Pleasure Island's bright lights have been on fade since Robert Iger took over. Guests asked for more family fare, which they will get in the from of more unusual shops and theme restaurants.
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