ESPN Zone
ESPN Zone is a Southern California-based chain of two sports-themed restaurants that include arcades, TV studios, and radio studios that are currently franchised, but formally owned by the American cable network ESPN. The first ESPN Zone opened in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 11, 1998, in the Power Plant on the Inner Harbor. It transformed what was once a massive brick building that housed coal-fired generators for the city trolley system into a dining and entertainment complex. It proved to be a cornerstone in the development of Baltimore's Inner Harbor before its sudden closure in June 2010. The 1 AM ET/10 PM PT Monday through Friday editions of ESPN's flagship program, SportsCenter, is currently broadcast from the ESPN Zone at L.A. Live.[1][2]
As of June 16, 2010, there are two ESPN Zones, both located in Southern California. Besides the L. A. Live location, the other ESPN Zone is located in nearby Anaheim in Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort As part of the decision by The Walt Disney Company through their Disney Regional Entertainment division to no longer operate the restaurants in 2010, they sold the rights to operate the location in Anaheim to Zone Enterprises of Anaheim, and the Los Angeles location to Anschutz Entertainment Group, the company that owns the L.A. Live and Staples Center locations.
There is also a restaurant called ESPN Club at Disney's BoardWalk Inn and an ESPN Grill at ESPN Wide World of Sports, both located within the Walt Disney World complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, they are not related to ESPN Zone restaurants.
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[edit] Events
Ultimate Couch Potato
ESPN Zone regularly hosts events featuring athletes from local professional teams.[3][4][5] Their most notable event is the Ultimate Couch Potato Competition, a competitive sitting competition. Held on January 1, four competitors try to out-sit each other while watching non-stop sports. Bathroom breaks are permitted only every eight hours and there is a five minute stretch-break every hour; they may eat and drink as much as they want. In 2009, competitions were held in New York, Chicago and Baltimore. The 2009 Ultimate Couch Potato in Baltimore, Maryland unofficially broke the Guinness World Record by sitting and watching consecutive sports for an unprecedented 70 hours, and 45 seconds.[6] The 2009 event received a lot of attention nationally as well as from international outlets like the popular Australian television show Sunrise. The 2010 Ultimate Couch Potato in Chicago, Illinois broke an ESPN Zone record and also unofficially broke the Guinness World Record by watching 72 hours of non-stop sports.[7] He is the only Ultimate Couch Potato competitor to win three years in a row.[8] Unrelated to the competition, Suresh Joachim set the official world record with 69 hours and 48 minutes in 2005.[9]
Ultimate Couch Potato Winners:
| Chicago | New York | Baltimore |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 Brett Farrenkopf: 14 hours 30 minutes | ||
| 2004 Patrick Arnold: 18 hours 30 minutes | ||
| 2005 Chris Connelly: 20 hours | ||
| 2006 Jason Pisarik: 32 hours | ||
| 2007 Jason Pisarik: 39 hours 55 minutes | ||
| 2008 Jeff Miller: 40 hours 30 minutes | 2008 Stan Friedman: 29 hours | |
| 2009 Jeff Miller: 39 hours 2 minutes | 2009 Stan Friedman: 19 hours 48 minutes | 2009 Jessica Mosley: 70 hours 45 seconds |
| 2010 Jeff Miller: 72 hours | 2010 Jorge Cruz: 48 hours 15 minutes 1 second | 2010 Jessica Mosley: 32 hours 59 minutes 14 seconds |
[edit] Closures
In 2009, Disney Regional Entertainment closed two ESPN Zone locations. A restaurant in Denver, Colorado, closed in June,[10] and another in Atlanta, Georgia, closed in October of that year.[11] The Atlanta location had opened in 2000,[11] while the Denver location opened in 2001.[10] In both cases, Disney Regional Entertainment cited the "economic environment" as the reason for the closures.[10][11]
In June 2010, Disney announced that the following ESPN Zone locations would be closing by the middle of the month, leaving only the Anaheim and Los Angeles locations in operation, with their final day of business on June 15, 2010:
- Baltimore, on the Inner Harbor
- Chicago, at the corner of Ohio and Wabash
- Las Vegas, at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino
- New York City, at Times Square
- Washington, D.C., located Downtown in the Thurman Arnold Building
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Levine, Stuart (2009-04-06). "ESPN's 'SportsCenter' heads West". Variety.com. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002174.html?categoryid=14&cs=1. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
- ^ Pucin, Diane (2009-04-06). "ESPN's studio in L.A. debuts". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-sp-espn6-2009apr06,0,2491719.story?track=rss. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ ESPNZone at Yesterland
- ^ Orange County Restaurant & Dining Guide orange-county-restaurant.info
- ^ The Ultimate Couch Potato ESPN Zone
- ^ Jessica Kartalija (2009-01-04). "Baltimore Crowns Ultimate Couch Potato". WJZ.com. http://wjz.com/seenon/couch.potato.champion.2.899637.html. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ^ Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-talk-competitive-sittingjan05,0,5803318.story.
- ^ http://www.startribune.com/sports/80864012.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUo8cyaiUiacyKUnciaec8O7EyUr This link is defunct.
- ^ Associated Press (2005-09-16). "World’s top ‘Couch Potato’ stares way to title". MSNBC.com. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9366979. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ^ a b c Tyler Lopez (2009-06-29). "Denver's ESPN Zone Closed". TheDenverChannel.com. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/19892138/detail.html. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ^ a b c Richard Eldredge (2009-10-01). "ESPN Zone in Buckhead closes". AJC.com. http://blogs.ajc.com/peachbuzz/2009/10/01/confirmed-espn-zone-in-buckhead-to-close/. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
[edit] External links
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