It looks like Disney has a lawsuit on their hands as a northern Mexico soccer club filed on Wednesday, December 30 to sue, due to a alleged contract breach.
As shared by Bloomberg: “Santos Laguna, a soccer club in northern Mexico, is taking on a giant in a lawsuit against Walt Disney Co, alleging breach of contract in a complaint filed in Los Angeles. Santos says that Disney leaves the soccer club with few options to televise its games in Mexico after the entertainment company decided to divest broadcasting assets to acquire 21st Century Fox.”
“Disney agreed to divest or liquidate the Mexican assets of Fox subsidiary FSLA Holdings — which includes Santos’s broadcasting rights — in order to prevent local regulators from blocking the Fox purchase, according to the complaint. The local channels are now managed separately from Disney, as required by Mexican regulators. “
“We believe the claims are utterly without merit and will defend against them vigorously,” a Disney spokesperson said.” Santos says that Disney, FSLA and Mexico’s telecom regulator continue to shut the club out of the divestment process, and says that its contract with FSLA specifically prohibits such a divestment.”
Exciting news coming out of Disney! Disney has been named as a “Corporation of the Year” by The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). With Disney’s strong approach to positively impact the community by working with ethnic minority-owned suppliers, the recognition is well deserved!
As shared by Leonard Spencer, Senior Manager of Supplier Diversity:
Earlier this year on the Disney Parks Blog, we shared the tremendous passion that The Walt Disney Company’s Supplier Diversity team has for positively impacting the diverse supplier community. Now, I am thrilled to share that this hard work has been recognized as Disney has been named as a “Corporation of the Year” by The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)!
This award is NMSDC’s highest honor to a major corporation for the utilization of ethnic minority-owned suppliers, specifically those with Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Native-American owners. Our Supplier Diversity team works hard to create an inclusive supply chain where we identify diverse suppliers that help the company deliver world-class entertainment experiences to our guests in our theme parks and resorts around the world. When we identify and work with diverse companies, not only do we contribute to their growth, but we also gain marketplace insights that enrich our content, enhance our offerings and make a difference in the communities where we live, work and play.
The Supplier Diversity team also recently showcased the story of Badia Spices on the Disney Parks Blog. The inspiring story highlighted the business who supplies spices and seasoning blends to our restaurants and has been one of our leading suppliers since 2005. Thanks to the variety of the spices that Badia supplies to our parks, we’re able to create magic through fan-favorite culinary delights. We are proud of our work in ensuring a pipeline of opportunity where minority businesses can participate and thrive in Disney’s economic system, and I am thankful for the entire team’s efforts in making this possible.
I had the honor to accept this award on behalf of Disney and could not help beaming with pride for my team and the immeasurable support and passion that they have for this line of work. Stay tuned for even more stories on our diverse suppliers in the months to come!
On October 27, Walt Disney World laid off several entertainers from its highest-profile shows to characters that strolled the parks for entertainment. Today, Disney has released a statement regarding an update on entertainment.
Walt Disney World Resort offers a treasure trove of experiences for guests of all ages. We recognize that part of the magic of visiting any Disney park is seeing favorite Disney friends and discovering one-of-a-kind shows and performances. Since reopening, we’ve continued to offer modified character experiences and entertainment throughout our resort, while also taking the appropriate steps for the health and safety of our guests and cast members.
Recently, we’ve had to make some difficult decisions to reduce our workforce as the business impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic have become more long-lasting than anyone could have predicted. As a result, we’ve had to pause many live shows and entertainment experiences at our resort for longer than originally anticipated.
While it’s impossible at this time to fully replace the incredible entertainment that existed throughout our parks before the pandemic, we are offering live entertainment in new ways wherever possible, including character cavalcades in all four parks and pop-up appearances, like discovering Joy from “Inside Out” frolicking on the lawn near the Imagination! pavilion in EPCOT. Additionally, we’re featuring modified shows such as the popular “For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and live musical performances like the Main Street Philharmonic in Magic Kingdom or the Discovery Island Drummers at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This extends to our seasonal offerings, with Halloween underway and the holidays right around the corner. In fact, the fan-favorite Voices of Liberty are set to make their return and join the JAMMitors and Mariachi Cobre at the American Gardens Theatre during the upcoming Taste of EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, beginning on Nov. 27.
Determining which shows can return and when is a complex process. As with the rest of our phased reopening, we will also consider the guidance of health officials and government agencies in determining when the time will be right to adjust capacity, and as soon as it is appropriate, we will start to bring additional entertainment back.
Like most of our fans, we know that our beloved entertainment cast are an incredibly special and essential part of the Disney experience. We look forward to the day when we can welcome back more live entertainment to our parks, and we will share more news about these announcements as we’re able to do so.
In another string of rash news tonight, it seems Bob Iger, Executive Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, has quit Governor Gavin Newsom’s economic recovery task force.
Walt Disney Co. Chairman Bob Iger has quit Gov. Gavin Newsom’s economic recovery task force, a Disney spokesperson confirmed Thursday evening.
The spokesperson would not say why or precisely when Iger left the task force, but the news comes as the Newsom administration is preparing to release guidance on theme park reopening that the industry is criticizing.
Earlier today, it was announced that California would be issuing theme park reopening guidelines sometime this week—Disneyland wasn’t as eager about the sudden announcement. The California Attractions and Parks Association, on behalf of Disneyland, has actually asked state officials to not finalize plans just yet—not before conferring with park operators and modifying certain protocols before officially issuing guidelines.
It seems the parks have been given a chance to overview a draft of the guidelines, and are not happy with what can only be assumed are strict or overly restrictive guidelines, considering the note about a “reasonable” reopening plan. Guidelines will reportedly vary between counties, possibly limiting who can visit the parks in order to discourage long-distance or out-of-state travel.
On Wednesday, Disney announced it would lay off 28,000 Cast Members across its Disney Parks, Experiences and Products segment.
We previously shared Florida’s Governor announced Florida is moving into “Phase 3” reopening. Under Phase 3, “Theme parks may return to normal operations with limited social distancing protocols”. Despite this new order, Disney has stated face covering are still required.
Two young guests stop to take a photo at Magic Kingdom Park, July 11, 2020, at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on the first day of the theme park’s phased reopening. (Olga Thompson, photographer)
As shared by FOX35: Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Friday that Florida will be moving into Phase 3 of reopening. According to the governor’s ‘Safe. Smart. Step-by-Step’ plan, “theme parks may return to normal operations with limited social distancing protocols” in Phase 3.
Disney responded to FOX35 with the following statement:
“We received the Governor’s executive order and are evaluating it to determine what it may mean for our business. We are not making any immediate changes. As a reminder, face coverings are still required at Walt Disney World Resort.”
