ESPN Wide World of Sports Information

The ESPN Wide World of Sports is a great place for any sports fan to visit. Covering 220 acres, this state of the art sports facility has a 9,500 seat stadium, with events held regularly throughout the year.

There are nine sporting venues, which comprise of:

Champion Stadium

A 9,500 seat baseball stadium, built in 1997. This was formerly known at the Cracker Jack Stadium and The Ballpark. It is used as the spring training grounds of the Atlanta Braves and recurring home of the Gulf Coast Braves. In 2007 and 2008, it plaid host to two Major League Baseball series, featuring the Tampa Bay Rays as the home team. 

Jostens Center

Opened in Fall 2008, this 44,800 square foot arena features six college-sized basketball courts, twelve volleyball courts and two hockey rinks. It has a seating capacity of 1,200.

HP Field House

A 5,000 seat multi-purpous arena with a small gymnasium and retractable seating. This hosts the yearly Old Spice Classic college basketball tournament.

Hess Sports Fields

Eight multi-purpose fields which can host a number of sporting events. Two of the fields have spotlights for night play, and four are made to match international soccer field dimensions. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers used the facility from 2002 to 2008 as a training camp. There is a permanent set of 500 sears on one field, with 1,000 permanent seats around another field. The seating can be expanded up to 3,000 with additional grandstands when needed. Field 17, the largest of all of them plays host to the Major League Soccer teams once a year.

Baseball Quadraplex

Consists of four full sized professional baseball fields, with a practice infield. There are a number of training areas including batting tunnels, hitting tunnels, masters pitching machines, ten bullpens and pitching mounds. Two of the fields have floodlights for night play.

Center Court Stadium

An 8,500 seat ten-court tennis complex.

Softball Diamondplex

Six full size softball fields, usually used for standard softball and youth baseball tournaments.

Cross Country Course

A multi-purpous set of fields and running track across a 0.7 mile (1.1 kilometre) wooded trail.

Track and Field Complex

A 500 seat competition facility, used for both track and field events. It was designed to meet the specifications of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It features a nine lane track, three shot put rings, two discus/hammer rings, a javelin runway, two high jump areas, two pole vault runways and two horizontal jump runways.

Additional Facilities

Additional facilities at the ESPN Wide world of Sports Complex are listed below. There are water fountains and ATM machines as well as free wi-fi access in several locations throughout the sports complex.

ESPN Wide World of Sports Grill

Offers a range of foods and also has a Playstation Pavilion, with several Playstation 3 consoles with the latest sports games ($5 per 30 minutes).

Gift Shop

Offers a range of sporting goods and Disney branded sports gifts.

ESPN Innovation Lab

Shows some of the advancing sports television technology used by ESPN.