<Li> build Disney World's position as a sports destination . </Li> <P> The venue opened on March 28, 1997 with an exhibition baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds . On April 21 - 27, the main tennis courts hosted the U.S. Men's Clay Court Tennis Championships . A grand opening was held May 15, 1997 . The initial build out consisted of nine venues with a 10th, the Olympic velodrome, expected in the third quarter 1997 . Initial tenants were Braves & its rookie team, the Harlem Globetrotters, NFL Experience, the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Amateur Athletic Union, Official All Star Café and Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society . Disney bid for the Florida state high school football finals for 1997 but lost to Gainesville . In June 1999, the complex made a deal with the Florida High School Activities Association to host the state prep volleyball championships at the Disney Fieldhouse for three years . USA Trampoline and Tumbling Championships was held at the complex the weekend of June 7, 1997 . </P> <P> A former baseball umpire and an architect alleged that they approached the Walt Disney Company in 1987 with plans for a sports complex, and that Wide World of Sports, which opened 10 years later, was heavily based on their designs . Disney claimed that, while the designs had some similarities, the complex was also similar to numerous other sporting facilities, and the concept of a sports park was too generic for any one group to claim ownership . The two men, represented in part by noted attorney Johnnie Cochran, sued Disney in Orange County civil court . In August 2000, a jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs with damages in the amount of $240 million, a fraction of the $1.5 billion sought . Disney appealed the judgment, and settled out of court in September 2002 for undisclosed terms . </P> <P> With Planet Hollywood just out of bankruptcy, Disney offered to purchase its All Star Café located here in February 2000 . </P>

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