MLS, NBA, you have just spent three months unable to play games because of the coronavirus pandemic, what are you going to do next?
We’re going to Disney World!
(Cue: Tinkerbell, Cinderella’s castle, fireworks and “When you wish upon a star” music…)
Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando is about to become the epicenter of U.S. professional sports this summer, as all 26 MLS teams and 22 NBA teams will resume their seasons there fan-free after the COVID-19 crisis forced leagues to shut down in mid-March.
MLS will take approximately 1,200 people to Orlando — a traveling party of about 45 from each team — from late-June to early August. Details are expected to be announced later this week. They would play a made-for-TV World Cup-style tournament with three group games and a 16-team knockout round. Standings from that event would be applied to the regular-season standings with hopes that teams can return to play in home markets in late-August.
MLS teams and officials will be sequestered at a resort on Disney property. Among the more upscale options near the sports complex are the Four Seasons, Waldorf Astoria, and the Swan and Dolphin Resort, which all offer privacy, spas, pools, and convention-style meeting rooms.
Disney owns 18 resort-style hotels in the area, as well as four golf courses, so the leagues can make sure players are isolated from the public.
The NBA is expected to have about 1,600 people check into their Disney bubble around July 7, regular-season games would restart July 31, followed by the playoffs and the NBA Finals, which could drag into mid-October. According to ESPN, NBA teams will be housed in three different hotels on Disney property.
Both leagues would adhere to strict health and safety guidelines, including regular testing for COVID-19 and limited to no visits from family members.
The ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, which opened in 1997, is a 220-acre state-of-the-art complex with multiple venues for basketball, soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, baseball, cheerleading, dance and hockey.
Any Florida parent whose children play competitive sports has probably spent some time at the complex.
It has 17 lighted soccer fields, and three basketball/multi-sport arenas. The HP Fieldhouse is a 70,000-square foot facility with six basketball courts, the VISA Center can accommodate six to eight courts, and the Arena has space for six practice courts.
ESPN also has a 2,500-square foot broadcast center on site with eight editing bays, so they can send feed directly to Bristol, Conn., and Los Angeles.
University of Miami men’s basketball coach Jim Larranaga, who has attended countless AAU basketball games and other youth tournaments at the Disney complex, said it makes perfect sense for the NBA to resume its season there.
“The facilities are absolutely mind-boggling,” Larranaga said. “The entire complex, no matter what sport you play, the facilities are beautiful and exquisite. For the NBA, the two facilities that host events for AAU and national championships are fantastic. I am sure they’ll have NBA floors, baskets, NBA everything. So, if you’re watching it on TV, it will look like an NBA game. I think they can custom make what the stands look like whether they hang tarps or use cardboard people in the seats, playing the music. Disney has everything.”
The ESPN Wide World of Sports has experience hosting professional soccer and basketball, as it has been home to MLS All-Star Game events, MLS preseason training camps, international club friendly matches, Orlando City games, NBA Pre-Draft camps and the Junior NBA Global Championships.
“I thought if the NBA were to come back this summer, they really only had two choices — Vegas and Orlando. Those cities are so capable of housing all the teams, they can separate teams for social distancing. And the arenas are beautiful. The NBA Summer League is in Vegas, so I thought there was a strong possibility they’d go there because of all the experience they have. Orlando’s summer league was at the Magic’s facility. I attended both and both are very nice. But Disney offers a whole other level of technology and organization.”
Orlando tourism officials are delighted with the news that their city will be hosting MLS and NBA games this summer. The region, which relies heavily on the hospitality industry, was slammed by the COVID-19 crisis. According to an Oxford Economic study, metro Orlando was projected to lose 280,000 leisure and hospitality jobs as the region has more than 500 hotels with 130,000 guest rooms.
Disney furloughed 100,000 theme park and hotel workers during the pandemic and the parks have been closed for three months, so bringing the NBA and MLS to town is a win-win for both sides.
Disney owns ESPN, and ESPN pays the NBA $1.4 billion a year to televise its games, according to Sports Business Daily.
“For Orlando to be able to claim this type of activity from so many major league teams is really positive and a shot in the arm for us,” said George Aguel, the president and CEO of the Visit Orlando tourism bureau. “You couldn’t ask for a better way to get the message out about how prepared we are for having visitors return. Our theme parks are in the process of opening up, and having MLS and NBA come here, by virtue of their presence, shows they felt comfortable and positive about coming here this summer. That plays nicely when fans and others are watching on T.V. and seeing, ‘It’s coming to you from Orlando.
“It validates us as a safe destination and helps us reinforce that we are in the big-event business. When you are in the theme park business, you are used to handling large volumes of people. We have the infrastructure here for handling enormous volumes of visitors safely.”
The NBA and MLS events will not be the largest sporting competition going on in Orlando in July. More than 10,000 athletes are expected for the AAU Girls Junior National Volleyball Championships at the Orange County Convention Center from July 14-22.
Aguel said the opening of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex 23 years ago helped position Orlando as one of the nation’s leading amateur athletic destinations.
“We have been known for hosting amateur sports for a long time, and have evolved into the pro sport world with the Magic and Orlando City, so for us to have the opportunity, of all the potential places they could have decided to go, to hear they’re choosing to bring both of these leagues to our community, is a great testimony for our city.
“It’s good timing. We have a lot of people who are looking forward to serving all the groups that will be involved in these two leagues playing here. It requires a lot of services for us, and that will be really nice for all our hospitality workers, especially, who have suffered the past few months.”