Esports Stadium Arlington will host its inaugural event in Texas this weekend. Eight teams will compete in the first-person shooting game Counter-Strike, vying for a $750,000 prize pool.
Measuring 100,000 square feet, the new stadium is the largest dedicated esports facility in North America. The stadium is owned by the city of Arlington. It cost $10 million to build and takes up about half the space inside the Arlington Convention Center. Events at the venue will be managed by NGAGE esports, an event management company that’s part of Infinite Esports & Entertainment.
“What we’re doing here is going to completely define the industry,” said Jonathon Oudthone, founder and president of NGAGE esports, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Maybe we’ll take over the old [Texas] Rangers stadium one day.”
The stadium can seat up to 2,500 fans and will aim to host between 30 and 50 events per year. The University of Texas at Arlington, which has one of the top collegiate esports programs in the country, will have its own team room inside the arena. The public will be able to enter the venue and play on dedicated computers in the lobby every day from 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. according to the Star-Telegram.
Esports Stadium Arlington features high-tech audio visual equipment, so the venue also aspires to be rented out for corporate events. On Saturday, Dec. 8, the stadium will host the first-ever Collegiate Rocket League National Championship, where four teams will compete for $25,000 in scholarship prizes.
SportTechie Takeaway
The esports industry is expected to reach $1.5 billion in global revenue by 2020, so Arlington is unlikely to be the last American city to build an esports stadium. HyperX purchased the naming right to an esports arena in Las Vegas last week, and Esports Arlington Stadium could now look to sell its rights to a brand sponsor. The Arlington-area is also home to the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks, whose owners, Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban, have both previously invested heavily in esports.
