MLB writer David O’ Brien is reporting that the Braves will relocate their Spring Training facilities to Sarasota in 2019, meaning either the 2017 or 2018 Spring Training will be the last for the Atlanta Braves at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Champion Stadium (formerly known as Cracker Jack Stadium) has been home to Braves Spring Training since the complex opened in 1997.
In 2017 the NFL Pro Bowl is coming to Orlando! While this year’s main event will be held at Camping World Stadium on Sunday, January 29th, the Walt Disney World Resort will be a part of the team hosting the Pro Bowl 5K Run, a celebratory parade featuring Pro Bowlers at the Magic Kingdom and team practices at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The race will take place the last weekend in January. Put on your favorite football jersey, grab the family, and go for the end zone that’s just 5,468 yards away! It’s football fun for the entire family as you run through the spectacular Walt Disney World Resort. And there will be plenty of entertainment and memory-making moments along the way!
The official practice site of the Pro Bowl will be the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Everyone is invited to come out and catch their favorite Pro Bowl players in practices on the field. Pro Bowlers will also be able to honor their former high school football or Pop Warner coach by inviting them to the game. Each member of the winning Pro Bowl team will earn a grant from the NFL Foundation to aid in the development of programs at their former high schools.
It will be a magic-filled afternoon as everyone’s favorite Pro Bowlers join Mickey and his pals in a celebratory parade down Main Street, U.S.A. at the Magic Kingdom. Disney Springs will host even more Pro Bowl excitement during the event.
Mark your calendar now and get ready for some football, festivities, and plenty of family fun during the week-long celebration! Registration for the Pro Bowl 5K Run and tickets for the Pro Bowl will be available beginning October 25. Check out ProBowl.com for more information.
From Darrell Fry on the Disney Parks Blog:
One thing that’s always struck me is our commitment to regularly reviewing the experiences we provide to our guests and challenging ourselves to bring new opportunities to life. Occasionally, this results in something coming to an end, as is the case with what I’m sharing today. In order to focus our efforts on ESPN’s growing year-round presence at Walt Disney World Resort, we have decided to no longer host ESPN The Weekend.
As you may know, the event was first created in 2004 in support of ESPN’s 25th anniversary and, along with ESPN Club, served as ESPN’s first significant presence here. While the event has continued for seven more successful years, our relationship with ESPN has evolved significantly and positively. This has resulted in new branding for the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, new opportunities for millions of athletes, coaches and fans, and hundreds of hours of ESPN programming, making our guests part of the show. In addition, the sports complex has become home to the ESPN Innovation Lab, which is the official development hub for ESPN’s 3D network.
Moving forward, our focus will be on creating events like the new ESPN RISE Girls Showcase and the ESPN RISE Games, which provide a stage for tens of thousands of athletes from around the country, and providing opportunities for guests to be part of events they’ve only before watched on television, such as the Home Depot College Football Awards and the Old Spice Classic.
We have just scratched the surface of what Walt Disney World and ESPN can do together and look forward to sharing information about new projects as they progress.
Disney and HP executives were joined by sports celebrities and ESPN personalities March 3, 2011 at ESPN Wide World of Sports for the dedication ceremony for the newly named “HP Field House.” Joining in the ceremony: (L-R): Gary Elliott, vice president of Brand Marketing for HP, U.S. Women’s Soccer legend Mia Hamm, Mickey Mouse, Ken Potrock, senior vice president of Disney Sports Enterprises, and Jason Witten, NFL All-Pro tight end for the Dallas Cowboys. The HP Field House is a 165,000-square-foot, multi-sport venue, which debuted in 1997 when the Disney sports complex opened. With the new HP partnership, the facility is outfitted with HP technology including HP TouchSmart 9300 Elite Business PCs.
The computer systems are located at kiosks throughout the venue and allow coaches, athletes and spectators to access sporting event highlights, updates, current weather information, dining options, event information and more. Another cornerstone of the HP Field House is the HP Photo Creation Center, where athletes and fans can create and download event images and print them in a variety of customized ways, including large-scale posters, banners and photo cards. (Gene Duncan, photographer)
Walt Disney World Resort today announced an expansion to its long-term business relationship with HP, which now includes naming rights for the 165,000-square-foot fieldhouse at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Beginning today, the fieldhouse will be renamed with the HP brand and will feature several new high-tech elements designed to enhance the sports experience for the nearly 1.5 million athletes, coaches and fans who visit the complex each year. HP also becomes the official imaging, printing and PC partner for ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, the leading multi-sports venue in the nation.
The centerpiece of the soon to be renamed fieldhouse will be the HP creation zone where athletes, coaches and fans can download, design and enhance commemorative photos and images of their events, then immediately produce and print them onsite. The HP creation zone will also include a retail area featuring a variety of imaging-related products and options for youth athletes and consumers, such as creating life-size posters of action photos, custom wallpaper coverings for the home and other photo keepsakes/memorabilia.
“HP’s innovative technologies further differentiate the athlete experience at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in ways that no other youth sports venue can match,” said Ken Potrock, senior vice president of Disney Sports Enterprises. “The HP technological enhancements in the complex are just the latest in a growing number of technology-driven projects that are at the core of our growth strategy, which centers around continually elevating the sports experience for our athletes, coaches and fans.”
There will also be an HP internet “café” capability inside the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex Grill featuring HP TouchSmart PCs. Individual stations will offer online access to a variety of sites, including ESPN.com, ESPNRISE.com, ESPNWWOS.com, Disney.com, Disneyworld.com and others.
The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex Welcome Center, an onsite concierge facility, will offer kiosks that also feature HP TouchSmart PCs. The kiosks, which will also be located at additional locations throughout the complex, will enable athletes and fans to access and print a wide range of sports event information, including field assignments and schedule updates, as well as general Disney information and resources, such as dining reservations and vacation planning tools for theme parks, resorts and water parks.
“The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex continues HP’s decades-long collaboration with Disney to captivate audiences through technology innovation and digital entertainment,” said Michael Mendenhall, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at HP. “The HP fieldhouse will deliver the ultimate sports environment, combining state-of-the-art athletic facilities with a rich, interactive technology experience to extend the spirit and passion of sports beyond the field of play.”
The fieldhouse accommodates virtually any indoor sport, including basketball, wrestling, gymnastics, volleyball, martial arts, team handball, roller hockey, cheerleading and dance, trampoline and tumbling, indoor tennis, etc., in addition to concerts and conventions. Opened in 1997, the venue has a seating capacity of 5,500 and room for six full-size collegiate basketball courts.
HP’s presence at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex extends the company’s long-standing relationship with Disney, which began in 1940 when HP worked with Walt Disney to enhance the acoustics in movie theaters before the release of Disney’s “Fantasia” movie. Currently, HP sponsors the MISSION: Space attraction at Epcot and is one of the sponsors of the Disneyland Dream Home at Disneyland Park. Disney is one of HP’s largest customers and utilizes thousands of HP business PCs, servers and printers, in addition to technology services, business intelligence software and storage.
The expansion of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex’s relationship with HP comes on the heels of the complex’s most comprehensive redesign since it opened in 1997. In February 2010, the complex, which was already the leading multi-sport venue in the world, was re-imagined with the ESPN brand, bringing the signature elements of ESPN to the complex to create a one-of-a-kind sports experience that lets athletes, coaches and fans feel as if they’ve reached the big time with ESPN.
If you’re like me, you’ll be glued to the television for a few weeks once the 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks off in June. Walt Disney World is offereing a pretty unique way to enjoy the games while you’re visiting:
Soccer fans in Central Florida can get swept up in the fever of 2010 FIFA World Cup through unique viewing opportunities at Walt Disney World Resort.
ESPN Wide World of Sports Grill at Disney has been designated as an official viewing location for the month-long global soccer tournament. Soccer fans can watch live World Cup matches televised on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 from South Africa involving their favorite soccer national teams on the ESPN Wide World of Sports Grill’s many large high-definition screens.
In addition, the ESPN Wide World of Sports Grill will offer special viewing parties running for the Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and third-place match (June 26-July 10), which will include guaranteed seating to view the matches and an all-you-care-to-eat buffet featuring Buffalo wings, hot dogs, seasonal fruit, build-your-own salads, a nacho bar, desserts and non-alcoholic drinks – all for $19.99/per person, per game (plus tax).
The beautiful game kicks off on the world stage June 11, with open seating for breakfast and lunch available at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Grill for the group stage of play running through June 25. A special viewing area will be available for the championship match July 11.
Reservations can be made starting May 27 by calling 407/WDW-DINE or by visiting espnwwos.com.
Tom Corless took a trip down to the Walt Disney World Resort to cover the re-opening of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and has a number of newsworthy photos from all over WDW to share:
Time to take the field
Here is a quick video overview of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and the festivities from last week:
