A $10 million stadium is being built in Arlington, Texas. But it’s not for basketball or baseball. It’s for video games. When it’s finished later this year it will be the biggest esports stadium in the U.S., at 100,000 square feet, with capacity for 1,000 spectators.
Sound crazy? It shouldn’t. Esports–which technically are just video games that are designed to promote team versus team competition–are expected to become a $2.3 billion industry by 2022. Professional teams are assembling across the globe to compete in games like DOTA2 and Overwatch; the developer Blizzard recently recruited talent from Fox Sports, the NFL, and the NBA to promote its new league.
While most esports are consumed via streaming platforms, like Twitch, live arenas are becoming an increasingly popular venue to experience professional games. Last year, Beijing’s Bird’s Nest sports stadium brought 40,000 people in to watch the championships for League of Legends–that’s right, a stadium built for the Olympics was taken over by gaming fans.
“There’s a lot of similarities that esports share with traditional sports. Fans want to go and be together to share an experience. That’s the universal aspect that’s the same,” explains Brian Mirakian, who led the project at Populous. “But where there’s a lot of difference is, a lot of times, [esports] events are very much longer. They don’t have a finite beginning and end.”
While an NFL game may last 4 hours, the tournament play of an esports competition can easily last 8 to 10. It can take up your day or your weekend, and so creature comforts that sporting arenas often leave out have to be built into the design. Instead of featuring concrete ramps and dull fast-food stands, the new venue’s concourse looks something more akin to a high-end sports bar, with plenty of areas to lounge with a light bite next to a TV, or even jump into a competitive match yourself.
