Walt Disney Co. is shuttering five ESPN Zone restaurants, including one in Times Square, saying the economics of the business became too challenging.
Locations in Baltimore, Chicago, Las Vegas and Washington, as well as the one in New York, will close Wednesday, ESPN said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. The cable sports network is controlled by Burbank, Calif.-based Disney.
ESPN Zone is a sports-themed restaurant chain started 12 years ago by Disney. It will stay open in Los Angeles and Anaheim, Calif., where the restaurants are run by Anschutz Entertainment Group and Zone Enterprises, ESPN said.
“This was a very difficult decision to make” Rick Alessandri, senior vice president at the cable sports network, said in an interview. “But it was the right decision to make.” It comes as Disney is opening a new retail store in Times Square.
Each restaurant was split into three sections, according to Disney regulatory filings: a “studio grill” for dining, a “screening room” for watching ESPN sports coverage and a “sports arena” for playing interactive games.
The restaurants averaged about 30,000 square feet, large by industry standards, Alessandri said.
Disney, the world’s biggest media company, fell 21 cents to $32.94 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Before yesterday, the shares had climbed 2.8 percent this year.