Sports lovers will have to find a new place to watch the rest of the NBA and NHL finals -- the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Walt Disney (DIS) is closing most of its ESPN Zone restaurants.
The only outlets that will stay open are the ones that are directly tied to a Disney property, like the one in the Downtown Disney shopping district in Anaheim, the paper reported.
"Since their inception, the Zones have served sports fans very well," an ESPN spokesman told the LA Times, but "from a pure business perspective, the economics have been challenging."
ESPN Zone opened in 1998. Disney operates restaurants in Baltimore, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York and Washington, D.C., and licenses the brand to a restaurant in th L.A. Live complex in downtown Los Angeles. Disney closed its Atlanta and Denver locations last year.
The eateries feature sports events on walls of TVs. There are also 10,000 square feet of interactive games for customers, like virtual golf and boxing.
The only outlets that will stay open are the ones that are directly tied to a Disney property, like the one in the Downtown Disney shopping district in Anaheim, the paper reported.
"Since their inception, the Zones have served sports fans very well," an ESPN spokesman told the LA Times, but "from a pure business perspective, the economics have been challenging."
ESPN Zone opened in 1998. Disney operates restaurants in Baltimore, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York and Washington, D.C., and licenses the brand to a restaurant in th L.A. Live complex in downtown Los Angeles. Disney closed its Atlanta and Denver locations last year.
The eateries feature sports events on walls of TVs. There are also 10,000 square feet of interactive games for customers, like virtual golf and boxing.
