From the 1997 Braves to Banana Ball: 29 Years at ESPN Wide World of Sports

Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is hosting its first-ever Banana Ball weekend — Party Animals vs. Loco Beach Coconuts — the latest chapter in a 29-year history that has stretched from the 1997 Braves-Reds opener to MLB spring training, an NBA Finals run in the 2020 bubble, and NFL Pro Bowl events on Disney property.

ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort is about to add its newest first — a Savannah Bananas-style weekend of Banana Ball inside The Stadium, with the Party Animals facing the Loco Beach Coconuts. It is the latest chapter in a 29-year history that has already included MLB spring training, an NBA Finals run in the 2020 bubble, NFL Pro Bowl skills events, and one of the busiest amateur sports calendars in the country.

How Baseball Built the Foundation of The Stadium

When Disney’s Wide World of Sports first opened its gates on March 28, 1997, baseball took center stage. A sellout crowd of more than 10,000 fans filled The Stadium for an exhibition between the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves — a 9-7 Braves victory that set the tone for a venue whose identity would be defined by America’s pastime. Former Braves legend Fred McGriff hit the first home run in the ballpark’s history, while Cincinnati’s prime-time centerfielder Deion Sanders recorded the first hit, the first stolen base, and the first run in the same game.

That connection deepened almost immediately. The Atlanta Braves made the complex their official spring training home from 1998 through 2019, building out the main ballpark, practice fields, batting cages, and training facilities into one of the most active Grapefruit League hubs in Florida. Over those two decades, fans could catch glimpses of names like Greg Maddux, Chipper Jones, Freddie Freeman, and Jason Heyward, alongside visiting All-Stars including Derek Jeter and Albert Pujols.

The Stadium also stepped onto the international stage in March 2006, hosting the opening round Pool D games of the inaugural World Baseball Classic with Australia, the Dominican Republic, Italy, and Venezuela. In 2023, when the Tampa Bay Rays split their spring training between Disney World and Tropicana Field, the complex once again welcomed a current MLB roster — including Jonathan Aranda, Luke Raley, and Jeffrey Springs — to face the New York Yankees. Earlier multi-game regular season series at the venue dated back to 2007, when the Rays first hosted the Texas Rangers there.

Today, The Stadium continues to evolve while honoring those roots. Approximately 9,500 seats, four luxury sky boxes, open-air suites and patios, and a wide LED video board beyond the outfield fences keep the ballpark feeling dynamic — and that distinctive north-south orientation still does its job protecting fans and outfielders from the bright Florida sun.

The Venues That Power 50+ Events a Year

ESPN Wide World of Sports has continually expanded to support every level of competition, from youth tournaments to nationally televised events. The campus today is a patchwork of purpose-built facilities, including:

• AdventHealth Arena — an 8,000-seat indoor venue that can be configured into four competition spaces, especially favored for cheerleading nationals.
• Athletic Center — a multi-sport venue with over 1,000 seats, locker rooms, and concessions, frequently used for basketball and cheer.
• Baseball Quadraplex — four professional-size diamonds (two with stadium lights), plus a youth league diamond.
• Sports Fields — 17 multi-purpose outdoor fields across 50+ acres of pro-level natural grass, configurable for football, soccer, field hockey, and more.
• Softball Diamondplex — six full-sized diamonds with 305-foot fences, digital scoreboards, and shaded dugouts.
• State Farm Field House — a 49,000-square-foot arena with 5,000+ seats, home to the televised ESPN Events Invitational and the WBCA Women’s Basketball Classic.
• Track and Field Complex — nine running lanes, a natural-grass infield, and shaded bleachers for meets.

The visual identity ties everything together. A distinct green-and-yellow color palette and tiled green roofs lean into a “Florida Picturesque” architectural style, with subtle nods to classic stadium design like the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum sprinkled in throughout the property.

A Campus Built for the Next Generation of Athletes

Nearly three decades in, ESPN Wide World of Sports remains a cornerstone of amateur athletics. Every year, the complex draws roughly 300,000 athletes and 800,000 spectators from around the world to compete across more than 50 different events spanning baseball, basketball, cheer, dance, soccer, and beyond.

That tradition dates back to December 1998, when the complex hosted its first Pop Warner Super Bowl and Cheer & Dance national championships. The campus has since added one milestone after another — the first AAU Boys Basketball National Championship in July 1997, Team USA training there ahead of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, and a 2012 AAU volleyball event that set a Guinness World Record for the largest tournament division.

Together, these events shape competitive opportunities for athletes at every youth level, while also creating the team bonding moments tournament families remember — often spilling out from the diamond or court and into the four Disney World theme parks for a post-game ride on something like Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.

From the NBA Bubble to the Pro Bowl: Defining Moments

The complex has hosted some of the most-watched moments in modern sports. Most prominently, in 2020, ESPN Wide World of Sports became the home of the NBA’s return-to-play “bubble”, with teams competing across AdventHealth Arena, the State Farm Field House, and the Athletic Center. AdventHealth Arena hosted the league’s biggest matchups, including the 2020 NBA Finals — a series in which the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in six games for the franchise’s 17th title, with LeBron James earning Finals MVP and Anthony Davis playing a central role.

Beyond pro basketball, the campus has hosted events that extend well past the playing field. First Lady Michelle Obama visited in 2012 as part of her “Let’s Move!” initiative, speaking to hundreds of children and parents about healthy living. In 2016, the Invictus Games, led by Prince Harry, brought more than 500 wounded, ill, and injured military personnel together to compete across multiple sports.

The NFL’s Pro Bowl celebrations have also called the complex home in recent years, with stars like Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott, Kirk Cousins, and Patrick Surtain II taking part in reimagined skills competitions and fan events on Disney property.

Since the campus was reimagined in 2010, marquee athletes from across professional sports have made appearances on-site. Soccer has been a particularly steady visitor: from March 29 through September 6, 2014, Orlando City Soccer played their full regular season on Field 17, and in 2020 the complex hosted the MLS is Back tournament — eventually won by the Portland Timbers.

Banana Ball Brings a New Style to The Stadium

Now, ESPN Wide World of Sports is about to add its newest chapter. Banana Ball — the Savannah Bananas’ fast-paced, fan-first reinvention of baseball — is coming to The Stadium for the very first time, with the Party Animals facing off against the Loco Beach Coconuts in a weekend series under the lights at Disney World.

Banana Ball trades a traditional MLB pace for choreographed dugout shenanigans, fan-participation rules, and a tightly compressed game clock that has turned the franchise into a touring phenomenon. For a complex that has already hosted MLB spring training, an NBA Finals, NFL Pro Bowl skills, and World Cup-bound national teams, the matchup is right in keeping with a venue that has spent 29 years saying “yes” to anything new in sports.

Why This Matters for Disney Fans

For Walt Disney World guests, ESPN Wide World of Sports is one of the only places on property where a theme-park day can pivot straight into a live sporting event without ever leaving Disney transportation. The arrival of Banana Ball cements that role — a marquee, made-for-fans matchup happening on the same grounds that hosted Braves spring training, the NBA Finals, and the Pro Bowl. Visitors can find tickets and the full upcoming schedule at ESPNWWOS.com.