Wide World of Sports addition (bowling)

[brad817]

I'm a bowler and this is a pretty big deal. This is basically the national championships for league and amateur bowlers. It means there's changes and additions coming to Wide World of Sports. FYI, these tournaments will be there 2 out of every 3 years starting in 2011 (open (men's) tournament every third year and women's tournament every third year). The tournament runs from February through late June or early July......

USBC Open/Women's Championships to call Disney World property home

6/9/2008
USBC Open Championships

The United States Bowling Congress announced today it will hold 13 events - seven Open Championships and six Women's Championships - from 2011 through 2029 in a privately-funded bowling center on land being made available at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Osceola County, Fla.

The agreement begins with the 2011 Open Championships. The Open will be held every three years after that through 2029. The first Women's Championships will be in 2013 and held every three years through 2028.

"USBC is proud to bring two of the world's largest participatory sporting events to Osceola County," said USBC Vice President of Tournaments and Events Jack Mordini. "USBC's partnership with Osceola County, Disney Sports Enterprises, the Central Florida Sports Commission and the developer will bring hundreds of thousands of participants and visitors to Central Florida who will enjoy the many amenities and attractions the area has to offer. This is one of the greatest announcements in the bowling industry since the invention of the automatic pinsetter."

Each tournament will run for approximately 20 weeks and is expected to draw tens of thousands of bowlers and spectators. The USBC Open Championship is projected to generate approximately 59,000 room nights per tournament and the Women's Championship is projected to generate approximately 40,000 room nights per tournament for Osceola County. Combined, the tournaments are expected to generate nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars in economic impact for the community over that time period.

"Osceola County is thrilled that this endeavor, nicknamed Project Rolling Rock by the Economic Development Department, has come to fruition. We welcome USBC to our community," said Commissioner Ken Shipley.

The Central Florida Sports Commission worked with the USBC and related parties to develop this opportunity for Osceola County.

"The acquisition of this business is a watershed event for Osceola County. The USBC Championships will be a powerful annuity program for the County for the next 20 years," said John Saboor, president of the Central Florida Sports Commission.

Osceola County was one of five communities under consideration for the 2011 USBC Open Championships. The others were Wichita, Kan.; Tulsa, Okla.; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Reno, Nev.

Walt Disney World Resort is making land available at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex to accommodate the large facility required to host the tournaments. Walt Disney World Resort will work closely with a third-party - to be announced later - to build and operate the privately-funded bowling center.

"We are excited to play a role in making this dream come true," said Ken Potrock, senior vice president of Disney Sports Enterprises. "This project is a reminder of just how much we can accomplish for our community when the public and private sectors work together."

[dudeman1975]

WEhen is this taking place, though this is good new I will make sure I stay away then, as I always tried to do when there was the golf classic.

[brad817]

The Men's (Open) Tournament (about 80,000 participants) goes from mid-February through early July in 2011, 2014, 2017 etc. The Women's Tournament (about 40,000 participants) goes from about mid-April through early July in 2013, 2016, 2019 etc.

[big blue and hairy]

The Osceola County connection explains something else I read. There are rooms being set aside for this at the All Star Resort, but not at Pop Century. AS is in Osceola County, Pop is in Orange County.

:sulley:

[DizneyFreak2002]

Guess the rumors of a bowling alley were true... Just too bad it isn't open for regular guests to play in...

[Polynesian Dweller]

Guess the rumors of a bowling alley were true... Just too bad it isn't open for regular guests to play in...
Are you sure of that? The bowling centre will be there when these tournaments aren't on. Wouldn't they want to make some money from it by letting the general public, and by extension resort guests, play in it for a fee?

[DizneyFreak2002]

Are you sure of that? The bowling centre will be there when these tournaments aren't on. Wouldn't they want to make some money from it by letting the general public, and by extension resort guests, play in it for a fee?

I took the article to mean it won't be open to the public.... I could be wrong... Maybe someone with more knowledge will come along and let us know for sure...

[big blue and hairy]

Guess the rumors of a bowling alley were true... Just too bad it isn't open for regular guests to play in...

I'd be surprised if it was never open to the public. Of course whenever there is a tourney of some sort, but not all the time. Disney is certainly known for maximizing their profits.

:sulley:

[meldan98]

This is great news. I just wish they had done this years ago when I was bowling in college. Years ago, they built a similar facility in Reno, NV to house these tournaments and other similar tournements such as College tournaments, Youth tournaments, and many other annual tournaments that bring a large numbers of bowlers. Obviously by being Reno, it was a boom for the casinos, especially during the adult tournaments. But the winter months made it difficult to get to and when there weren't any events schedule, they did not open the lanes up to the public. When there were junior tournaments scheduled, there was NOTHING for the kids to do except go to Circus Circus and sit in the hotel. This is great news for bowlers.

I just wish I was still bowling so I could get an excuse to go to WDW more often.

[DizneyFreak2002]

I'd be surprised if it was never open to the public. Of course whenever there is a tourney of some sort, but not all the time. Disney is certainly known for maximizing their profits.

:sulley:

Do they allow the basketball courts or baseball fields to be open to the general public when there is nothing going on??

[ThanxForNoticin]

Do they allow the basketball courts or baseball fields to be open to the general public when there is nothing going on??

No, they don't.

[KylesMom]

Another big league bowler checking in here.

Realize that this is a privately funded venture, and not Disney building the center (even tho they'll manage it), so I would not expect that they will have casual open bowling at the facility when not in use by the USBC. Just my opinion . . .

[Janmac]

I bowled in Reno a couple or 3 times. It was pretty impressive but if I'm remembering correctly the Reno facility didn't pull in the money they way they expected a dedicated state of the art tournament center would.

Perhaps this location would do better than Reno.

Also, it would be my guess that not all tournament participants would stay on property.

Jan

[meldan98]

This won't be Disney's first bowling center though. Disney and some other Hollywood people owned a center in Colorado many, many years ago.

[brad817]

I'm not sure this building will be built as exclusively a bowling center. For the benefit of non-bowlers, the USBC Championships this year are conducted in Albequerque, but NOT in a bowling center. It's in a convention center and lanes and pinsetters are installed and then taken out 5 months later. I suppose this could be an option for this new Disney facility so they can maximize the use in other months. Or it could be exclusively a bowling center that would be open to the public the months when the tournament is not going on. I guess we'll find out.

[GrumpyFan]

I didn't see it here in this posting, but I think I read somewhere that it will have 100 lanes. If so, then I would imagine it being built such that it could handle both tournaments as well as recreational bowlers, possibly at the same time, depending on the size of the tournament.

Since Disney is involved with it and bowling is a fun, family type of sport, I would see it really odd if they didn't open it for the general public. It could potentially make for another entertainment venue, much like the putt-putt golf courses. And, who knows, they could be trying to set aside part of the facility just for this purpose and planning on theming it "Disney" style.

On a related note, with this addition, the (ESPN) Wide World of Sports, is starting to become a real and considerably used sports complex, with a frequent volume of visitors. The time could be about right for them to build a hotel either on that property, or close by. I really have to wonder if they are planning anything such as this? With the Pop Century Legendary years apparently still up in the air, they could use that portion of that hotel and do something, or there's enough room where they could even build something within WWS.

[meldan98]

I think Reno currently has 80+ lanes. When formerly ABC or WIBC came to town when I was bowling, they made locals (based on miles) bowl at rediculous hours. I remember starting at 11:00pm for one event and not finishing until after 2:00am and then having to be there at 7:00am the next day. These events go on for weeks at a time, so more than likely the general public wouldn't be able to bowl during the events.