EX-LB’S vision now NBA bubble
Former Bengals player Williams led launch of Disney sports complex
Hard to believe now, with the NBA set to resume its season on Thursday inside a so-called bubble, that Reggie Williams considers a resistance to authenticity as one of the biggest hurdles he cleared during the 1990s when tasked to launch a business for Disney built around a massive sports complex.
“It was so hard to get the project approved,” Williams, who spearheaded the effort that became ESPN’S Wide World of Sports, reflected for USA TODAY Sports.
“It was turned down several times before it was finally approved. To see the validation of the concept demonstrated now in such a dramatic, onedestination imagery, it really makes you appreciate destiny.”
Williams, who played 14 NFL seasons as a Cincinnati Bengals linebacker, became the first African-american vice president at Walt Disney World for the primary purpose of developing the sports recreation business.
He visualized creating a mecca for amateur athletics that would draw youth sports competitors from across the nation, yet also felt the complex needed to be distinguished world-class facilities that could accommodate and attract professional sports events.
It took a frustrating two years after his hiring in 1993 to get the green light. In addition to addressing financial aspects such as profit-margin projections, Williams remembers being engaged in a corporate culture clash. “Real sports” was hardly the calling card for a tradition-rich company with amazing theme parks.
“There was initially the struggle between operations and marketing, in terms of where, ultimately, the sports business would go,” said Williams, 65, who retired from Disney in 2007 due to health issues. “Disney’s had a wealth of experience in creating these make-believe characters. But it was challenging for them to bleed just as strongly in authenticity as a destination.”
That was then.
From the moment the sports complex near Orlando was opened in 1997, it has been synonymous with authentic sports.
The Atlanta Braves held spring training at Wide World of Sports for 20 years. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Orlando Magic used to stage training camps there. Williams’ former team, the Bengals, had a couple of offseason passing camps at the complex, which covers 220 acres.
The NBA games, from a re-booted regular season with 22 teams through the NBA Finals set to begin on Sept. 30, will be staged in three venues without fans in attendance.
Meanwhile, Major League Soccer has its teams at the complex for its MLS Is Back Tournament that concludes on August 11. Players, coaches and others affiliated with the NBA and MLS will stay at Disney hotel properties – hence, the “bubble definition – that were established as related revenue-generators for the complex.
It has been natural for Williams to wax nostalgic lately, with the complex he envisioned playing a major role in the relaunching of sports amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I feel like a proud parent,” said Williams, who still maintains contact with former Disney colleagues and employees. “I’m a fan of the place. I want it to continue to replicate its hard-earned success.
“There was so much passion and love that went into the concept,” he added. “It’s never about one person. I may have had a vision, but it took thousands of cast members to bring it to fruition.”
Williams has been watching the TV coverage of some of the NBA scrimmages from the complex in recent days and is eager to see the, well, authentic games in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, memories are rushing back.
He remembers being photographed with former NBA commissioner David Stern on one of the courts now set to host the Covid-19 games. He is wistful when reflecting on a visit from Muhammad Ali.
He mentions how Tiger Woods had his first golf clinic at the complex. He recalls the first team event: Braves vs. Reds in a spring training game that christened the plush retro-styled baseball stadium.
“Deion Sanders scored the first run,” Williams points out. “That’s just prophetic, man. A two-sport star athlete scores the first run at Wide World of Sports.”
Then there was the time when Williams, the NFL’S Man of the Year in 1986, provided a tour for a group of NFL owners who were in Orlando for league meetings.
The group included Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots.
“We were overlooking the grounds from a patio at The Field House, and they thought we had installed artificialturf fields,” Williams remembered. “So, walking them down to that field, there was such a sense of pride to say, ‘No, this is a grass field as good as any in the NFL.’”
It was authentic, just as Williams knew it needed to be for a world-class complex.