ESPN Wide World of Sports: Another way Disney World makes magical memories
Most Walt Disney World guests make memories riding Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom or experiencing a festival at Epcot, but for thousands of young athletes, the memories are made at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Whether it’s soccer, football, baseball, or any other sport that brings you Walt Disney World, you know you’re in for an incredible experience.
By Mike Mack, Laughing Place
We recently got a tour of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and its many impressive facilities. Sporting events can be held at the AdventHealth Arena, The Stadium, the State Farm Field House, the Athletic Center, Marathon Sports Fields, a Baseball Quadraplex and Softball Complex, and a Track & Field Complex.
The indoor Venues could host up to 18 basketball games at any time, while dozens of soccer games could be played outside on the many natural grass fields. These venues can also accommodate a wide range of other sports, including wrestling, gymnastics, volleyball, martial arts, team handball, roller hockey, cheerleading and dance, trampoline and tumbling, and indoor tennis. The complex even played host to the Nerf Dart Tag Championship.
Most famously, the Wide World of Sports Complex was home to the 2020 NBA season, bringing the best basketball players in the world to these venues. The AdventHealth Arena hosted the NBA Finals, where the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat to capture the championship. The ESPN Events Invitational also brings some of the best college basketball players in the country to the complex annually. These and countless other events only add to the experience of the many young athletes who can use the same courts, fields, and locker rooms as the pros.
But it’s not just the on-field action that makes this complex special. ESPN isn’t just a name slapped onto these facilities. A fully functioning studio on the property has also played host to popular ESPN personalities like Stephen A. Smith and Dan Orlovsky. A control room also allows the cast members here to handle some of ESPN’s many, many broadcast duties.
And to make things even more interesting, the ESPN Innovation Lab can also be found on this campus. While the building may not look like much from the outside, this is where some of ESPN’s most brilliant minds come up with technology that will change the world of sports forever. For example, that yellow first down marker you’ve seen in every football game you watch, that technology was developed right there at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. Unfortunately, the Lab is not open to the public, but it’s very cool to know that this kind of work is taking place at Walt Disney World.
Thanks to all of those technological advancements at the Wide World of Sports, families don’t necessarily need to be in attendance to watch their child compete. Fields and courts are outfitted with cameras that live stream the events for families to watch from their own homes. During events, QR codes are placed at the various sites that will take guests to a link that can then be sent out for anyone around the world to tune in.
The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is truly an incredible offering for young athletes and just another way Walt Disney World makes dreams come true. To learn more about the complex or see what events will take place there, visit espnwwos.com.
