ESPN Zone
Encyclopedia
ESPN Zone is a Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

-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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 cable network
Cable network
A cable channel is a television channel available via cable television. Such channels are usually also available via satellite television, including direct broadcast satellite providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network and BSkyB...

 ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

. The first ESPN Zone opened in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 11, 1998, in the Power Plant
Pratt Street Power Plant
Pratt Street Power Plant, also known as the Pier Four Power Plant, The Power Plant, or Pratt Street Station, is a historic power plant located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

 on the Inner Harbor
Inner Harbor
The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and iconic landmark of the City of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as “the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the World.” The Inner Harbor is actually the end of the...

. 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
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

's flagship program, SportsCenter
SportsCenter
SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...

, is currently broadcast from the ESPN Zone at L.A. Live.

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
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...

 in Downtown Disney
Downtown Disney (California)
Downtown Disney is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment area, also known as a "shoppertainment center", located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, United States...

 at the Disneyland Resort
Disneyland Resort
The Disneyland Resort is a recreational resort in Anaheim, California. The resort is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks and Resorts division and is home to two theme parks, three hotels and a shopping, dining, and entertainment area known as Downtown Disney.The area now...

  As part of the decision by The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...

 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
Anschutz Entertainment Group
The Anschutz Entertainment Group is a sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports events, the owner of the world’s most profitable sports and entertainment venues, and under AEG Live the world's...

, the company that owns the L.A. Live and Staples Center
Staples Center
Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...

 locations.

There is also a restaurant called ESPN Club at Disney's BoardWalk Inn
Disney's BoardWalk Inn
Disney's BoardWalk Inn is a deluxe resort part of Disney's BoardWalk Resort, at the Walt Disney World Resort. It opened on July 1, 1996. The resort is owned and operated by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts....

 and an ESPN Grill at ESPN Wide World of Sports, both located within the Walt Disney World complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Lake Buena Vista is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is mostly known for being home to the Walt Disney World Resort. It is one of two Florida municipalities controlled by The Walt Disney Company, the other being Bay Lake....

, they are not related to ESPN Zone restaurants.

Events

Ultimate Couch Potato

ESPN Zone regularly hosts events featuring athletes from local professional teams. 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. The 2009 event received a lot of attention nationally as well as from international outlets like the popular Australian television show Sunrise
Sunrise (TV program)
Sunrise is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network. On weekdays the programme follows Seven Early News, and runs from 6am through to 9am.-History:...

. 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. He is the only Ultimate Couch Potato competitor to win three years in a row. Unrelated to the competition, Suresh Joachim set the official world record with 69 hours and 48 minutes in 2005.

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

Closures

In 2009, Disney Regional Entertainment closed two ESPN Zone locations. A restaurant in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

, closed in June, and another in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

, closed in October of that year. The Atlanta location had opened in 2000, while the Denver location opened in 2001. In both cases, Disney Regional Entertainment cited the "economic environment" as the reason for the closures.

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
    Baltimore
    Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

    , on the Inner Harbor
    Inner Harbor
    The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and iconic landmark of the City of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as “the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the World.” The Inner Harbor is actually the end of the...

  • Chicago
    Chicago
    Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

    , at the corner of Ohio and Wabash
  • Las Vegas
    Las Vegas metropolitan area
    The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

    , at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino
    New York-New York Hotel & Casino
    New York-New York Hotel & Casino is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip at 3790 Las Vegas Boulevard South, in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International.-Description:...

  • New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

    , at Times Square
    Times Square
    Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...

  • Washington, D.C.
    Washington, D.C.
    Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

    , located Downtown
    Downtown Washington, D.C.
    Downtown is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., as well as a colloquial name for the central business district in the northwest quadrant of the city. Geographically, the area extends roughly five to six blocks west, northwest, north, northeast, and east of the White House...

    in the Thurman Arnold Building
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK