Is a sports-themed park a possibility?

R

retroeric

Active Member
Original Poster
Sports is bigger than ever. Not just in America but in the world. And ESPN is bigger than ever. ESPN has grown so much, that it is now probably the most important part of the entire Walt Disney company (from a financial standpoint). Former CEO Michael Eisner even said "Disney would not exist without ESPN".

Disney has always been a big believer in synergy, and what better way to showcase this product (and its partners) than with a sports-themed park? It's almost a no brainer. And it would practically build itself. Each "land" would be a different sport- baseball land, football land, etc, maybe a soccer land to please the international community. (ESPN has stakes in all theses sports). And I'm not talking about a "Disney-fied" version where it's just Mickey wearing a generic baseball uniform and Goofy swinging a golf club. I mean a real legit sports mecca where all the REAL teams and logos and history come together. Almost like a museum/hall of fame/theme park.

Another thing this does is caters to the teenage and college age boy which some feel Disney has lost to Universal. What say you?
 
afar28

afar28

Well-Known Member
As a sports fan I would love this, but i doubt they'd ever do it. It would be nothing for the people who don't like sports. Now maybe a sports themed land is possible, but where would it go?
 
jw24

jw24

Well-Known Member
Even though I'm a diehard sports fan, I just don't see the combination of sports and theme parks working in Disney, or anywhere else for that matter. I mean, if people want to experience sports, then play the sport themselves! If they want to watch sports, then let them watch it from the comfort of their home. Disney does have a sports presence already with Wide World of Sports, golf courses, the ESPN Club and even the Richard Petty Driving Experience if that counts. If anything sports-related, I'd prefer an additional sports bar in DTD that could be added so that people don't have to travel all the way to another resort hotel or ESPN Club to see the big games.
 
graphite1326

graphite1326

Well-Known Member
I wonder why they stopped advertising the ESPN zone like they used to. Isn't there something there for the kids to do. Like a football drill or something like that. Maybe it's gone now but I do remember them advertising it. Also don't the Globe Trotters play there sometimes. Maybe if they had shows like them and easy access to it, people would use it. The only reason we never went when my kids were into sports is because getting there was difficult.
 
sshindel

sshindel

The Epcot Manifesto
I for one would look forward to the NFL Simulator ride. They could use the Body Wars simulator ride, as it was about as bumpy as I imagine a game would be. Then every few seconds, they could knock you in the head with something until you can't remember your children's names.
 
FettFan

FettFan

Well-Known Member
I would totally go.
huey-lewis-news-sports-33-lp-record.jpg


But then you just know Universal would follow it up with a Ray Parker Jr. land.
 
Vader2112

Vader2112

Well-Known Member
I think it is a one and done thing and possibly not have the repeat customer base that WDW does. There was once a theme park called Boardwalk and Baseball here is FL that did not last very long. It housed the spring training facility for the Kansas City Royals I beleive and was themed around an old Coney Island boardwalk and baseball.

I would have to have more to it than attractions you find during any fan fest these days.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom