The new Walt Disney World Sports Complex was profiled
by Steve Kornacki of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. The sports
complex, a "state-of-the-art playground that will begin
gaining national attention this week," will open Friday with
an exhibition MLB game between the Reds-Braves at the Disney
Wide World of Sports Baseball Stadium. The 9,500-capacity,
double-deck stadium -- which has 7,500 seats and additional
lawn seating -- is the "crown jewel of a complex" that will
"cater to everything from youth leagues to pros in a variety
of sports." The complex cost Disney $100M to build, not
including the acreage that was purchased by Disney "long
before the complex was envisioned." The Official All-Star
Cafe backed by Tiger Woods, Ken Griffey Jr., Andre Agassi,
Shaquille O'Neal and others "soon will break ground" next to
the stadium (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/23).
GROSS NUMBERS: Disney officials won't discuss
attendance projections, but Phil Lengyel, Disney's Senior
VP/Sports, notes the calendar for the first year "is much
fuller than the 80 events the company had originally
projected." Lengyel: "We're pushing closer to 160 events.
... We've nearly doubled what we thought we were going to
do" (Christine Shenot, ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/23).
