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[ashecitism]

http://mashable.com/2017/03/10/dc-sponsors-esports/#6TagdF7naqq7

For Washington, D.C., being the capital of the United States of America isn't enough. The city is looking to become the capital of something else entirely: esports.

North American esports team NRG Esports is now being sponsored by D.C., the district's official convention and sports authority, Events D.C. revealed to me in a series of interviews yesterday. Not only is the city's sponsorship one of the first of its kind, it marks the District of Columbia's official push into the world of professional competitive gaming.

NRG Esports — which has professional teams and players competing in Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone, Super Smash Bros., Rocket League and more — was founded by Sacramento Kings co-owners Andy Miller and Mark Mastrov, and has big name investors like four-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal and MLB stars/World Series champions Alex Rodriguez and Jimmy Rollins. Washington D.C. will have logos on the teams' jerseys, players' streams and the NRG website, plus it will host NRG bootcamps where players get together and practice for long hours for days on end.

Sponsoring a team like this is a way for D.C. to show that it's embracing esports and gearing up to be an esports hub, Events D.C. Chairman Max Brown said.

D.C. is changing, Brown said, with an average of 1,000 people moving to the city every month. The influx of new people is causing the district to evolve from a government town to a broader and more diverse economy.

"We have a bunch of universities here in Washington," Brown said. "There are lots of younger kids who are here and are coming here every year through our universities so we think it makes a lot of sense for us as a city to plant a flag [for esports], and ultimately be the capital of esports like we’re the capital of the United States."

Esports demographics tend to skew younger and D.C. needs to provide entertainment to keep people coming.

D.C.'s esports presence won't be limited to logos on NRG Esports, though. The city is planning to build a brand new arena that sounds perfectly suited to host sizable esports events.

"A $65 million 4,200-seat, state-of-the-art arena," Brown said. "[It will] come online in late-2018, early-2019. Fully tailored and wired for esports."

The arena will be the new home of WNBA team the Washington Mystics. Though it's being build with esports in mind, it'll be open to host other events, like concerts and boxing matches

D.C.'s sponsorship of NRG is exciting, NRG's Miller said.

"We’re really excited about it," he said. "I think it’s definitely a first for esports and a great validation of NRG but also the esports space and how big and interesting it’s becoming to the point that now you have really forward-thinking folks like Events D.C. taking a look and actually wading into the waters here and putting time and money behind it."

The sponsorship doesn't mean that NRG is tied to the city like more traditional sports organizations.

"We’re not the D.C. NRG," Miller said. "But we will be spending a bunch of time down there, we will definitely be bootcamping down there... and then hopefully we can bring real big events across all the different leagues and games that we play in to D.C. so that people can actually go and watch them."

more at the link

 

[Darryl M R]

Extremely cool

 

[Nirolak]

I wonder if we'll see other states jump on board soon.

Things have been moving quickly.

 

[jon bones]

oh shit, it's really happening

 

[pretty done]

They should really upgrade their garbage CS team if they have this kind of money.

 

[demosthenes]

That's really cool.

I've liked how SC2 has been able to get some smaller arenas in NY and other cities. Red Bull had a finals where they were in a really old theatre and it just looked awesome. They can do that versus CS, Dota, or LOL b/c of the 1v1 format.

Hoping to see more states, and more money get into esports. As someone that loves to watch basically everything: SC2, LOL, Dota, SF, CS, I want more of everything.

 

[EdReedFan20]

I'm not really all that interested in E-Sports (except for a few games like Rocket League or actual sports-based video games like Madden), but I love so much how it's growing so fast. When I saw this thread, though, I felt it was odd for an E-Sports-specific arena, when D.C. already has an arena, but seeing that it'll be mult-use, it makes a whole lot more sense to me. I'm guessing the Mystics' turnout at Verizon Center wasn't large enough anymore to make playing in that arena worth it. I wonder where it'll be built. My guess is over by where Nationals Park is located. In that same area, they are also building a new stadium for D.C. United (Major League Soccer). Or perhaps, when D.C. United leaves old RFK Stadium (I believe they're the only occupants left) the stadium would be torn down and the arena could be built there (though, I'm sure people would want that rumored new Redskins stadium to be built there). I see this as the first of several E-Sports focused arenas.

 

[demosthenes]

I'm not really all that interested in E-Sports (except for a few games like Rocket League or actual sports-based video games like Madden), but I love so much how it's growing so fast. When I saw this thread, though, I felt it was odd for an E-Sports-specific arena, when D.C. already has an arena, but seeing that it'll be mult-use, it makes a whole lot more sense to me. I'm guessing the Mystics' turnout at Verizon Center wasn't large enough anymore to make playing in that arena worth it. I wonder where it'll be built. My guess is over by where Nationals Park is located. In that same area, they are also building a new stadium for D.C. United (Major League Soccer). Or perhaps, when D.C. United leaves old RFK Stadium (I believe they're the only occupants left) the stadium would be torn down and the arena could be built there (though, I'm sure people would want that rumored new Redskins stadium to be built there). I see this as the first of several E-Sports focused arenas.

A lot of the arenas when they play in Europe to me seem like multi-use arenas that are smaller scale. I'm hoping we'll see more of those start popping up.

 

[EdReedFan20]

A lot of the arenas when they play in Europe to me seem like multi-use arenas that are smaller scale. I'm hoping we'll see more of those start popping up.

While not arenas, here in America a lot of smaller stadiums are being built (at least on the east coast) that specifically host Major League Soccer and/or Major League Lacrosse. The one I mentioned for the D.C. United will be a stadium of similar capacity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_Field

And this is an image from that Wikipedia article. I think the new arena will be in this area, joining Nationals Park and Audi Field (when it's built). D.C seems to be focusing on that area (the Anacostia River waterfront).