Florida's theme park infrastructure will also house the soccer league

NBA settles at Disney World

photo_camera BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI - Walt Disney Co. will partially reopen its entertainment and shopping complex in Florida

#WalterEliasDisney

Not even Walt Disney himself imagined in the 1960s that his countless speculations about land in Orlando would become the bubbles that would bring an end to the soccer and basketball leagues in the United States. Mr. Walt never saw his empire built on the East Coast, but he enjoyed Disneyland from 1955 in California.

#ESPN

More than 100 square kilometers make up Disney World Resort. In the state of Florida (one of the most hit by the COVID-19), 400 kilometers north of Miami. The production company started it up in 1971 and it has not stopped growing. When the magic of the Disney characters ends, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex appears. A macro sports complex built in 1997 to host competitions in baseball, soccer, basketball and everything else that can be practiced within its 12 fields. An unbeatable infrastructure in times of coronavirus.

#WarTimes

While the United States is facing the COVID-19 pandemic as if it were a war, its mainstream sports have decided that the show must go on. This is what America is like, and even more so with its tireless president at the helm. The country is paying the price of being the world's leading economy. It buries its dead in exchange for not stopping the engine that moves more than 300 million people.

#Baseball

The MLB is once again batting in diamonds all over the country. Baseball is played in empty stadiums between nearby teams. Many players have refused to play. There are daily tryouts and they barely have any contact to finish the competition and get the money from the televisions. It's the sports business that moves the most fans in America.

#Soccer

MLS wants to score goals again. They look sideways at Europe to take note of how the Bundesliga, LaLiga or Calcio have returned. The players have already set off for Orlando to enter the Disney World bubble and finish the competition. There is room for everyone. Also for the NBA.

#Basketball

The NBA circus has conquered three resort hotels. And they're not the most luxurious because the theme park has opened its doors to the public and has to divide rooms among children, parents, basketball and soccer players. Already, there are complaints about the powerful NBA towers because the luxury of yesteryear has shifted to the moderately priced Grand Floridian. Others are divided between the Yacht Club, built in 1990; or the Grand Destination, the most luxurious of all.

#366

Those in the bubble had their moment to decide to get out of there. If they didn't, they become part of the group of 366 people in the NBA who can only leave the bunker due to force majeure. Alex Caruso, a Lakers player, missed his sister's wedding. Strict entry and exit protocols made him unwilling to go.

#Rubio

Ricky Rubio is in the eye of the hurricane. The Phoenix player made public that he was sick with COVID-19, passed the illness, passed the tests and was able to enter the Orlando bubble with some delay, but healthy. Now the 108-page manifesto that each team's 35 members must complete will have to be read.

#Ring

Everyone will be tested daily, will have to wear a mask at all times except for training, and the proximity alarm on their arm will warn them when they are more than 5 seconds away from someone. The $150 million the NBA has invested in finishing the season safely includes the famous ring they have recommended to players to detect symptoms of coronavirus. Everything points to a publicity stunt since the ring is now voluntary and the union complained that it violated the players' right to privacy.      

#Calderon

José Manuel Calderón has spent 15 years in the NBA and is now the executive director of the players' union. He is the executive who has been behind the 366 COVID-19 tests with zero positives. He watches over the players and enforces the new rules. He has made it possible for them to spend their free time riding their bikes, playing golf, fishing, challenging themselves with video games or listening to live DJs. Players will be able to watch other Olympic-style games as long as they wait the four hours it takes to disinfect the venues. But it has also imposed showers at the hotel after the games to avoid the players' fashion shows when they arrive at the halls.

#WholeNewGame

The social factor in the NBA is enormous and in the Disney bubble it could not disappear. "It's a Whole New Game" is the motto with which the NBA presents its new product to the public around the world. That takes the impact off the screens behind the benches where all kinds of information about the game, advertising and even connections to home fans are broadcast. The "Black Lives Matter" will also be very present on the courts, although it remains to be seen if there will be players who bend their knees as has already happened in the resumption of baseball. Every detail is measured to the millimeter. The social jerseys with which the players send messages of support to society could not be missing. "We honor", "Equality", "Am I next?", "By any means", "Power to the people", "I can't breathe", "Systemic racism", "Police reform" and "No justice, no peace" are some of the messages that can be read.           

#Techniques

Now friendly matches are taking place to get the players out of confinement. Jumps, rubs, pushes... that should dictate the way of the NBA and the play-offs where they will be able to enter invited players to the enclosure. It will remain to know the procedure with the positives and the contagions. And the great doubt that assails the stars of basketball: if the silence on the floor will favor the techniques. Let the show begin in fantasy land.                                                                                  

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