Walt Disney Co. will air a commercial on TV and online to promote its importance to Florida, the latest move in a battle with the governor and legislators that’s gone on for more than a year.
The company, which owns the 25,000-acre Walt Disney World resort outside of Orlando, released an economic impact study Tuesday saying that it accounts for one out every 32 jobs in Florida, with 263,000 people either working for Disney or connected to it in some fashion. Some 82,000 are employed directly by the company in the state.
Disney said it contracts with 2,500 small businesses in Florida. The company’s four theme parks, 24,000 hotel rooms, cruise ships and other operations contributed $40.3 billion to the local economy and $6.6 billion in taxes in 2022, according to the report, which was produced by Oxford Economics.
Disney, the world’s largest theme-park operator, became ensnared in a public fight with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis last year over a local law that curtailed discussion of sexual orientation in schools. Florida legislators took over a municipal district that provided services such as fire protection and electricity to the Disney parks, replacing its board with gubernatorial appointees.
Disney sued the governor earlier this year, saying the takeover infringed the company’s free speech rights. Members of the new DeSantis-supported board sued Disney in state court in May, accusing the company of violating the law in its attempt to prevent the board from continuing to govern some park operations.
That same month Disney canceled plans to open a new corporate campus in Florida, but pledged to invest $17 billion and create 13,000 jobs in the state over the next 10 years. Disney said in September it wants to invest $60 billion globally in its parks division.
The economic impact calculations are based on the year before the takeover of the municipal district, the company said in a press release.
The new ad and economic study coincide with the 58th anniversary this week of company founder Walt Disney announcing he would build a theme park in the state, an event attended by then governor Haydon Burns.