The Goofy Games: Disney's Clever Theme Park Marketing

The Goofy Games were a multi-day sporting event that was held every spring at Walt Disney World. Teams of four from across the country, and later the world, would compete in somewhat silly competitions in what would ultimately be Disney’s own light-hearted Olympics. From afar, nothing about the event seemed that innovative or creative. However the clever marketing came in the form of just who made up those teams. Because you see the teams weren’t based on cities or states or nations like in most sporting events, they were based on local television stations.

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Starting small, 25 major market television stations from across the country were invited on an all-expense paid trip to Disney World to participate in The Goofy Games. The idea was that one member of the team would be the station’s representative, usually an anchor or reporter. They, in turn, would get two professional athletes, sometimes from their region, to join the team. Lastly, they’d hold their own local contest in which one lucky viewer would get to join the team as the 4th and final member. The teams would compete at #Disney for prize money that would be donated to a charity of their choosing.

It was a brilliant event concept. For one lucky viewer per team, they were winning an all-paid trip to #WaltDisneyWorld. For the television stations, they were gaining exposure and positive PR from not only running the contest that offered that free trip, but for partaking in a charitable event. The athletes were gaining similarly positive press for taking part, and it was lending the event some star power because, let’s be honest, local news anchors aren’t really going to draw in crowds. Finally, Disney was gaining positive exposure for running the entire event. However beyond that, they were inviting 25 major market television stations. So of course those stations were bringing their own crews to the event and of course they were covering it on their news programs. For the price of the event, Disney was gaining the media exposure of 25 major markets. It was a win for everybody.

The event was such a success that it would be held again the following year, and by the third Goofy Games in 1987, the number of participating stations would double to fifty. The year after that teams from other nations were invited, and perhaps most notably one of the teams featured popular Olympian Eddie the Eagle from the UK. By this point the event was generating over a quarter of a million dollars for the chosen charities. Disney would cleverly pick events that would highlight new additions to the theme parks so that folks at home watching their local teams would get a look at what was new down in Florida.

So what happened to the Goofy Games? Well, for as much as I searched, there was no public reason I could find to explain the end of the event in 1991. The final year of the event wasn’t promoted as such, so it just seems that by 1992 they chose not to run it anymore. It is worth noting that by that final year they had scaled the event back to just feature athletes. Perhaps the novelty of the event was wearing off. When it began in the mid 1980s satellite broadcasting for smaller channels was still relatively new, so there was something special about the idea of your local station reporting from somewhere further away like Disney World. But after a while, like most technology, it just became a part of everyday life. By that point Euro Disney, now Disneyland Paris, was also well underway and proving to be a significant financial burden on Disney, so it’s entirely possible that when it came time to tighten their belt, events like this were dropped to save money.

[nestoons]

Everything: Why did you kill me?
Disney: EuroDisney.

[FunDisneyFan]

I would LOVE to see this event return now a days. I think it would be a great PR move for all involved and a good way to get money to charities.

[UmmYeahOk]

Conveniently, after ending the games, various TGIF sitcoms on ABC started having episodes where they visited the parks, experiencing what was new.

[Yukosan]

The goofy games might have stopped because they started advising thru the ABC series like boys meets world and full house during the 90's.. I feel like those shows got more exposure than a smaller event like goofy games. I know as a kid I was always excited when my favorite sitcom went to disney world and it never really felt like one long 30min ad but it was.. 😅

[simonegraffi]

Looks like Euro Disney was the cause for every cancelled or downsized project at Disney in the 90s
(that's pretty sad considering it's the closest disney park to me...)

[lilsisasu]

This may seem kind of nerdy, but I got excited when I saw that you were using one of the local news channels that I watch. It’s the one from Charlotte, NC.

[cjhs]

Before Goof Troop, Goofy Was my Favorite Disney Character, After Goof Troop, Max Was my Favorite Character, Now I Love Them Both

[TitoTimTravels]

It always reminded me of the Battle of The Network Stars. That ended in the late 80s. Entertainment just kind of moved away from that era... They should bring it back now for the nostalgia.

[miker]

Why don't they bring this back. They now have the wide world of sports complex so they already have the facilities to host it. Maybe instead of every year maybe just have it every 2 to 4 years to coincide with the olympics. And maybe instead of broadcasting it on tv livestream it say on facebook.

[UsedtobeaDuchess]

The Mighty Ducks! I never knew they were a real hockey team too! Great video, Rob. I always learn something with these.

[akfasso]

This is the first time I have ever heard of the Goofy Games, but I can certainly see how smart of a campaign it was at the time! While it was a huge undertaking, it still seems a little less forced/obvious than today's marketing strategies.

[Bunjamin]

I always liked watching the cheesy special Disney things like this, as a kid. They always seemed like they weren't *strictly* for profit or only happening so they can bash people over the head with, I mean, promote their newest movie, spin off, or remake..

Great video :-)

[russianboss]

This reminds me of Disney Channel Games. I was stoked the year the Jonas Brothers were on.

[AllisonMertzman]

I was just a baby when these happened but did go! :) We always went in April when I was a kid, many times for two weeks so It overlapped.

[dreamerhammerspace]

1:29 - that's some requiem for a meme

[drewhastings]

Awesome! I would love to see a video in the future on the history of fireworks or parades in the parks. Have they always been there?

[Blakehx]

Great video as always thanks! It's a shame they stopped the Goofy Games! I think they should bring them back but have politicians compete... just make the games a lot more painful LOL!

[dpm-jtrj]

At one time Disney hosted an IndyCar race on a track on Disney property, but that was short lived.

[chrisbroemel]

It looks like Meg Macdonald was reporting from on top of the berm between Seas and the Land! I always wanted to go up there. No one gets to go up there! (except maybe landscaping people, but still...)

[LARKXHIN]

I've never heard of this! It should come back.