E-sports arena set to open in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS — The arena has all the features that a professional sports venue needs: stands, warm-up areas for teams, huge screens for spectators and a broadcast platform for commentators.
“Las Vegas needs to consistently reinvent itself to remain relevant to the up-and-coming generation,” said Seth Schorr, CEO of Fifth Street Gaming and a member of the board of directors of Millennial Esports, the company behind the arena.
The venue will open its doors Friday with a three-day, $50,000-prize-pool “Halo” world championship qualifying competition and host an EA Sports-sanctioned “Madden NFL 17” tournament later in March.
The entire facility was built in an area that once housed movie theaters and a nightclub.
Las Vegas casinos have invested in non-gaming amenities to attract the elusive Millennials, from rooms with bunk beds for the young travelers who don’t want to spend a minute apart, to a lounge that features pool, Foosball and air hockey.
Vegas is betting on e-sports as its popularity has evolved from a niche genre of gaming to a lucrative sport thanks to new technology, more reliable Internet speeds and a generation of gamers that has grown up watching competitive matches on YouTube, Twitch and other sites.
The sport now draws tens of millions of spectators to gaming sites and physical venues, including New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Staples Center in Los Angeles and the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, which saw 16 of the world’s best Counter-Strike: