When ESPN unveils its highly touted 3-D technology for the FIFA World Cup next month, the sports Goliath might want to thank Mickey Mouse.
The technology, like several that ESPN now employs, was developed at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Disney World, a site long viewed as more a part of Disney’s Orlando-based theme park enterprise than of its sports empire.
But Disney-owned ESPN has been aggressively integrating the 220-acre amateur sports complex into its strategy by using it to incubate new broadcast technologies, creating content for its widening array of platforms and, this year for the first time, rolling the site into pitches to advertisers.
“A couple of years ago we said, ‘Duh, we should do this,’” said Ken Potrock, who manages the complex for Disney. “For ESPN, it was all about reaching and touching their athletes and their fans in a more dimensional way than traditional platforms. And for us, it was the authenticity and the credibility of being in the sports business and having an association with ESPN.”
Until the last few years, the main collaborative effort between Bristol, Conn.-based ESPN and what was then called the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex was ESPN The Weekend, a still-active program in which the channel’s talent comes down to the theme-park area for a weekend. Now, ESPN has a five-person Innovation Lab headquartered at the complex, a staffing level that will double to 10 this year.
In addition to 3-D, home run tracking technology and the EA Sports Virtual Playbook were developed at the complex. With hundreds of thousands of amateur athletes competing at the site, it’s seen as a natural for testing new technologies.
In addition, this year for the first time, a handful of those competitions are being added to the ESPN content juggernaut. Some of the AAU and other high school tournaments will find their way onto the relaunched ESPN3.com. The complex has offered natural synergies to ESPN’s high school brand, Rise, and ESPN’s “Top 10 Plays” feature on “SportsCenter” has used highlights from competitions at the site.
The sports complex at WDW also produces a wide
world of tech ideas for ESPN.
“Rather than chase sporting events around the country with all of our equipment, why not just set up the equipment in one location and have everybody come to us?” said Chad Blankenship, ESPN’s senior director of marketing partnerships.
To drive home the new relationship, Disney rebranded the complex in February, taking the Disney name off the grounds and replacing it with ESPN. But at its heart, the sports complex is still all about Disney World.
Located inside the Walt Disney World Resort complex, Wide World of Sports is near Disney’s famous Magic Kingdom Park, not to mention dozens of specialty Disney hotels and other attractions. It acts as a lure for families who add on Disney vacations to their children’s sports endeavors. More than 2 million people annually visit the complex, which also serves as the Atlanta Braves’ spring training home.
Next month, a new channel will debut in the 27,000 hotel rooms at Disney World featuring the site and its competitions. The complex also is now hosting endurance races, another way to attract visitors to the entertainment mecca.
Without sharing specifics, Potrock characterized business as being good. He expects some major sponsor announcements in the coming months. The large field house on the site is currently without a sponsor, having lost its deal with America’s dairy farmers at the end of last year (though the facility is still called the Milk House). The Braves’ facility, Champion Stadium, is title-sponsored by the namesake sportswear company.
As part of ESPN’s overtures to advertisers, the network is now offering the complex as part of its advertising packages. The idea, Potrock said, is to allow advertisers to get closer to the core athletic audience and to do so in an experiential way.
“ESPN views the Wide World of Sports Complex as a new platform for their clients,” he said.
