ESPN Zone
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ESPN Zone is a small chain of very large sports-themed restaurants that include arcades, TV studios, and radio studios. 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 what is now an all-encompassing sports dining and entertainment mecca. It proved to be a cornerstone in the development of the city’s waterfront, and more specifically the Inner Harbor.
There are ESPN Zones located in:
- Anaheim, California, at Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort
- Atlanta, Georgia, on Peachtree Street in the Buckhead neighborhood
- Baltimore, Maryland, on the Inner Harbor
- Chicago, Illinois located at the corner of Ohio and Wabash.
- Denver, Colorado, on 16th Street Mall (Closed on June 29, 2009)
- Las Vegas, Nevada, at the New York, New York Hotel & Casino
- New York, New York, in Times Square
- Washington, D.C., near Chinatown
- Los Angeles, California, at L.A. Live
There is also a restaurant called ESPN Club at Disney's BoardWalk Inn at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida not related to ESPN Zone restaurants.
The chain of restaurants is owned and operated by Disney Regional Entertainment, which in turn, is owned by The Walt Disney Company.
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[edit] 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 held on January 1st, a competitive sitting competition. Four competitors try to out-sit each other while watching non-stop sports. Bathroom breaks are only permitted every eight hours and there is a five minute stretch-break every hour; they may eat and drink as much as they want.
This year's competition was held in New York, New York; Chicago, Illinois and Baltimore, Maryland.
The 2009 Ultimate Couch Potato in Baltimore, Maryland unofficially broke the Guinness World Record by sitting and watching consecutive sports for an unprecedented 72 hours, and 45 seconds. [1] Unrelated to the competition, Surech Joachim set the official world record with 69 hours and 48 minutes in 2005.[2]
The 2009 event received a lot of attention nationally as well as from international outlets like the popular Australian television show Sunrise (TV program).
Q&A's with Athletes and Sports Figures Local pro teams often participate in question and answer sessions at ESPN Zone locations allowing fans to an opportunity to get personal, candid answers to all their sports questions, while also getting better acquainted with the players.
Junior Broadcaster The Junior Broadcaster event is a competition where entrants ages 12 and under sit behind a microphone on-set at ESPN Zone and take a stab at the play-by-play call for pre-determined game plays from a local team. A panel of judges provides feedback and narrows the field. The winner receives the opportunity to help the broadcasting booth at an upcoming game.
Star-Spangled Sing-Off At this event, singers of all ages compete for the opportunity to sing the national anthem at a local pro sports game.
In the opening round of the competition, contestants sing 30 seconds of any song other than the Star-Spangled Banner. Finalists advance to the second round and each sing the national anthem in its entirety. The contest is judged by a panel of experts and fans at the event.
Watch Parties ESPN Zone often hosts watch parties to cheer on local teams when they play against big rivals.
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