Disney Cruise Line Expands 'The Play Project' Across the Bahamas with ESPN as a New Partner

Disney Cruise Line is broadening its community youth-sports initiative, The Play Project, with new partner ESPN and refurbished baseball fields, basketball courts, and track and field grounds across Eleuthera, Nassau, and Abaco. Build days continue this summer in collaboration with love.fútbol, the Buddy Hield Foundation, and Bahamian community leaders, with new spaces ready by August 2026.

Disney Cruise Line Expands 'The Play Project' Across the Bahamas with ESPN as a New Partner

Disney Cruise Line is significantly expanding The Play Project, a community-led initiative that's bringing new energy to youth sports and play spaces across The Bahamas. The next chapter brings refurbished baseball fields, basketball courts, and track and field grounds to Eleuthera, Nassau, and Abaco — and adds ESPN as a marquee new collaborator.

Disney VoluntEARS and Bahamian community members revitalizing a youth sports field as part of The Play Project
Disney VoluntEARS working alongside Bahamian community members at a Play Project build day.

Impact Over a Year in the Making

The mission began when Disney Cruise Line opened Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point in 2024. Looking to create vibrant spaces for Bahamian youth, Disney teamed up with the global nonprofit love.fútbol and local residents to design essential play spaces.

In its inaugural year, the initiative focused on South and Central Eleuthera. Six primary schools — P.A. Gibson, Deep Creek, Tarpum Bay, Rock Sound, Wemyss Bight, and Green Castle — received revitalized play spaces in 2025, fueled by more than 230 Disney VoluntEARS who worked alongside Bahamian residents.

Key Details

New Partners, New Possibilities

Disney Cruise Line is tapping into the broader Walt Disney Company to bring ESPN's "Take Back Sports" initiative into The Play Project. The ESPN program is designed to reverse the decline in youth sports participation by dismantling barriers like rising costs and providing free programming so that sports stay accessible, inclusive, and fun for the next generation.

"The Walt Disney Company and ESPN are working to make youth sports more accessible. We're thrilled to expand our work in the Bahamas through The Play Project." — Kevin Martinez, vice president of ESPN corporate citizenship

Team Spirit and Home Runs in Eleuthera

This year, The Play Project is returning to where it all began, revitalizing additional spaces in South and Central Eleuthera. Whether it's resurfacing baseball fields at Tarpum Bay or installing new playgrounds at Emily G. Petty and Emma E. Cooper schools, the goal stays the same: a lasting legacy of play.

Refurbished baseball field on Eleuthera in The Bahamas as part of Disney Cruise Line's Play Project
Refurbished baseball fields are central to this year's Eleuthera builds.
"Disney Cruise Line continues to show its commitment to communities in Central and South Eleuthera with the expansion of the Play Project initiative. Programs and corporate engagement like this are an important part of the incredible economic development Eleuthera is now experiencing." — Hon. Clay Sweeting, Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs and Member of Parliament for Central and South Eleuthera

Looking Toward a Bright Future in Nassau and Abaco

The momentum doesn't stop in Eleuthera. Disney Cruise Line and love.fútbol will lead community "build days" in Abaco and Nassau this summer.

"We see play as a powerful platform for creating lasting impact for children and the places they call home." — Manoel Silva, COO, love.fútbol

In Nassau, DCL is working with the Buddy Hield Foundation on a total revitalization of the sports spaces at Woodcock Primary School, culminating in a community basketball tournament hosted by Bahamian NBA star Buddy Hield to tip off the opening of the new facilities.

Bahamian children playing basketball at a refurbished community court funded by The Play Project Wide shot of a revitalized Bahamian school playground delivered by Disney Cruise Line's Play Project

What This Means for Disney Fans

For guests already booked on a sailing to Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, the expansion of The Play Project is a reminder that DCL's footprint in The Bahamas is now year-round and far beyond the cruise terminal. By August 2026, students across Eleuthera, Nassau, and Abaco will have access to noticeably better play environments — a cornerstone of Disney Cruise Line's broader Bahamian community work, recently recognized on Forbes' 2026 List of America's Best Brands for Social Impact. For fans who care about how Disney shows up in the destinations it visits, this is one of the more concrete examples in recent years.