headquarters anaheim california website official website espn zone is a restaurant at downtown disney at the disneyland resort in anaheim california formerly a restaurant chain that included arcades tv studios and radio studios formerly owned by the american cable network espn . contents 1 history 2 use as broadcast facility 3 events 4 closures 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit the first espn zone opened in baltimore maryland on july 11 1998 in the power plant on the inner harbor . this was a pivotal moment in disney s history as it was the first ever major business venture outside of disney s highly controlled theme parks . producer for the grand opening event was paulette wolfe entertainment ivan healy purvis was charged with the task of production director advising disney on the best systems and logistics of this ground breaking event . it transformed what was once a massive brick building that housed coal fired generators for the city trolley system into a dining and entertainment complex . it proved to be a cornerstone in the development of baltimore s inner harbor before its sudden closure in june 2010 . in june 2010 all but two locations were shuttered with the remaining restaurants located in southern california . as part of the decision by the walt disney company through their disney regional entertainment division to no longer operate the restaurants in 2010 they sold the rights to operate the location in anaheim to zone enterprises of anaheim a subsidiary of the walt disney company and the los angeles location to anschutz entertainment group the company that owns the l.a. live and staples center locations . the l.a. live location housed in the espn west coast headquarters building closed in july 2013 . there is also a restaurant called espn club at disney s boardwalk inn and an espn grill at espn wide world of sports both located within the walt disney world complex in lake buena vista florida . however they are not related to espn zone restaurants . use as broadcast facility edit all of the espn zone restaurants were equipped to be remote espn broadcast locations though only two were used to house regular series . the anaheim espn zone was the home of unscripted with chris connelly from 2001 to 2002 . the espn zone in new york city s times square was used as the location of the monday night football halftime show for several years . the weekly series the sports reporters was broadcast from the times square location every sunday morning from its opening until its closing at which point the show moved to espn s home base in bristol connecticut . several of the locations also had radio studios used by the local espn radio affiliate and leased to other stations on occasion . events edit now closed espn zone in downtown washington d.c. ultimate couch potato espn zone regularly hosts events featuring athletes from local professional teams . 1 2 3 their most notable event is the ultimate couch potato competition a competitive sitting competition . held on january 1 four competitors try to out sit each other while watching non stop sports . bathroom breaks are permitted only every eight hours and there is a five minute stretch break every hour ; they may eat and drink as much as they want . in 2009 competitions were held in new york chicago and baltimore . the 2009 ultimate couch potato in baltimore maryland unofficially broke the guinness world record by sitting and watching consecutive sports for an unprecedented 70 hours and 45 seconds . 4 the 2009 event received a lot of attention nationally as well as from international outlets like the popular australian television show sunrise . the 2010 ultimate couch potato in chicago illinois broke an espn zone record and also unofficially broke the guinness world record by watching 72 hours of non stop sports . 5 he is the only ultimate couch potato competitor to win three years in a row . 6 unrelated to the competition suresh joachim set the official world record with 69 hours and 48 minutes in 2005 . 7 ultimate couch potato winners chicago new york baltimore 2003 brett farrenkopf 14 hours 30 minutes 2004 patrick arnold 18 hours 30 minutes 2005 chris connelly 20 hours 2006 jason pisarik 32 hours 2007 jason pisarik 39 hours 55 minutes 2008 jeff miller 40 hours 30 minutes 2008 stan friedman 29 hours 2009 jeff miller 39 hours 2 minutes 2009 stan friedman 19 hours 48 minutes 2009 jessica mosley 70 hours 45 seconds 2010 jeff miller 72 hours 2010 jorge cruz 48 hours 15 minutes 1 second 2010 jessica mosley 32 hours 59 minutes 14 seconds espn zone in baltimore which closed june 15 2010 closures edit in 2009 disney regional entertainment closed two espn zone locations . a restaurant in denver colorado closed in june 8 and another in atlanta georgia closed in october of that year . 9 the atlanta location had opened in 2000 9 while the denver location opened in 2001 . 8 in both cases disney regional entertainment cited the economic environment as the reason for the closures . 8 9 in june 2010 disney announced that the following espn zone locations would be closing by the middle of the month leaving only the anaheim and los angeles locations in operation with their final day of business on june 15 2010 baltimore on the inner harbor chicago at the corner of ohio and wabash las vegas at the new york new york hotel & casino new york city at times square washington d.c. located downtown in the thurman arnold building see also edit disney regional entertainment references edit espnzone at yesterland orange county restaurant & dining guide orange county restaurant.info the ultimate couch potato espn zone jessica kartalija 2009 01 04 . baltimore crowns ultimate couch potato . wjz.com . retrieved 2009 10 02 . topic galleries . chicago tribune . http www.startribune.com sports 80864012.html elr karksi8cyaiuo8cyaiuiacykunciaec8o7eyur this link is defunct . associated press 2005 09 16 . world s top couch potato stares way to title . msnbc.com . retrieved 2009 10 02 . a b c tyler lopez 2009 06 29 . denver s espn zone closed . thedenverchannel.com . retrieved 2009 10 02 . a b c richard eldredge 2009 10 01 . espn zone in buckhead closes . ajc.com . retrieved 2009 10 02 . external links edit official website v t e espn inc. executives george bodenheimer john skipper edwin durso chuck pagano norby williamson u.s. networks linear tv espn espn2 espnews classic espnu deportes longhorn network sec network part time digital acc network extra espn on abc espn3 college extra plus goal line radio espn radio deportes xtra international brasil espn espn brasil espn caribbean espn espn 2 indian subcontinent sony espn japan j sports latin america espn espn 2 espn 3 espn oceania espn espn 2 uk1 bt sport espn co owned canadian sports networks tsn 1 2 3 4 5 rds rds2 rds info espn classic canada current ventures espn.com espn deportes.com espn broadband espn films espn the magazine espn deportes la revista espn books espn zone espy awards espn integration watchespn defunct ventures espn extra espn now espn west arena football league minority stake 2006 2009 espn star sports equity stake 1994 2013 espn 3d 2010 2013 espn america 2002 2013 espn classic uk 2006 2013 espn mvp 2005 2006 grantland 2011 2015 espn gameplan 1992 2015 espn full court 2007 2015 espn ppv 1999 2015 u.s. sports broadcasting rights college football high school football major league baseball major league soccer national football league canadian football league nascar national basketball association women s national basketball association indycar x games full list other properties espncricinfo fivethirtyeight jayski s silly season site espn fc espnf1 espnscrum scouts inc. truehoop notable personalities current personalities former personalities espnews personalities espnu personalities espn radio personalities miscellaneous history criticism this is sportscenter owners disney media networks 80 % hearst corporation 20 % 1operated by third party owner under license other disney media networks unit disney abc television group v t e walt disney parks and resorts disneyland resort disneyland disney california adventure downtown disney walt disney world magic kingdom epcot disney s hollywood studios disney s animal kingdom disney s typhoon lagoon disney s blizzard beach espn wide world of sports complex disney springs disneyquest tokyo disney resort oriental land co. licensee tokyo disneyland tokyo disneysea disneyland paris euro disney disneyland park walt disney studios park disney village hong kong disneyland resort hong kong disneyland inspiration lake shanghai disney resort shanghai disneyland park disneytown disney cruise line castaway cay disney magic disney wonder disney dream disney fantasy disney vacation club animal kingdom villas aulani bay lake tower beach club villas boardwalk villas hilton head island resort old key west resort polynesian villas & bungalows saratoga springs resort & spa vero beach resort the villas at disney s grand californian hotel & spa the villas at disney s grand floridian resort & spa the villas at disney s wilderness lodge other adventures by disney disney dollar disney s fairy tale weddings & honeymoons rail transport rundisney team disney walt disney imagineering walt disney creative entertainment world of disney cancelled and former parks discovery island disney s america disneysea pleasure island port disney river country walt disney s riverfront square westcot the walt disney company retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title espn zone & oldid 736627570 categories companies based in anaheim californiadefunct restaurant chains in the united statesdisneyland resortespnrestaurants established in 1998restaurants in marylandrestaurants in orange county californiatheme restaurantsvideo arcadeswalt disney parks and resorts1998 establishments in maryland navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article 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