Las Vegas’s esports scene is about to take off as the once “Krave” nightclub in downtown Las Vegas is transformed into an esports paradise. As explained on the Millennial Esports website:
Millennial Esports (ME) is currently building Las Vegas’s first permanent esports studio and arena at Neonopolis in beautiful Downtown Las Vegas. This 15,000 square foot state of the art facility will seat up to 500 people in comfort. With the ability to operate 24 hours a day 365 days a year, the Millennial Esports studio/arena will quickly become a landmark downtown and a preferred venue for publishers and partners to facilitate esports tournaments and initiatives as well a be available for special events. Neonopolis is a 240,0000 square foot retail and office complex located between the Fremont Street Experience and the East Fremont District.
This Las Vegas esports arena has a modern premier stage with a permanent broadcasting booth and DJ booth. The main stage features custom made gamer booths for competitors with theater like seating and VIP areas. Additional high tech touches include an LED video wall with advanced lighting and sound projector screens. The new studio and arena will have everything a gamer could ask for, complete with multiple gaming stations and a concession area.
Millennial Esports Halo Tournament March 3-5
Millennial Esports will host their grand opening on March 3 just before the start of their first tournament after the completion of their new arena. The prize pool is $50,000 and the top 6 teams of the Millennial Esports Halo World Championship open LAN will also qualify for the Halo World Championship Finals this Spring with a $1 million prize pool.
Alex Igelman, CEO of Millennial Esports, boasts that Neonopolis in downtown Las Vegas is the perfect location of the brand new arena: “It will drive a lot of people here who may not necessarily want to gamble or go to a show.” Igelman said he wanted the arena in downtown Las Vegas because of the younger demographics and because he felt the site would stand out more.
You can find this event, along with all other Vegas esports events on our Esports Event Calendar
Esports Taking Vegas by Storm
Although Millennial Esports will be the first esports arena of its kind in Las Vegas, esports has been growing at an exponential rate in Las Vegas and growth only looks to accelerate in 2017. Reports indicate that “Ourgame,” the owners of Las Vegas’s World Poker Tour, want to focus on esports and Las Vegas looks like the prime destination for one of their new esports arenas. “Ourgame” is looking to partner with a TV broadcaster for their 14,000 square foot esports studio in one of Vegas’s casinos as early as 2019.
As the average age of casino goers is now passing 65 years of age, casinos are starting to look for new ways to attract younger crowds who are less interested in the older traditional model of Vegas casinos. The Evolution Championship Series, a prime fighting game competition, held their 2016 tournament finals in the 12,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center. The Mandalay Bay will also be hosting the “League of Legends” spring finals on April 17th, and it will be the first time the tournament is not hosted in Los Angeles.
In 2016 governor Brian Sandoval made it clear that he wants Las Vegas to be the premier destination for esports. In response to a 2016 “League of Legends” tournament he stated, “This announcement is a major step towards ensuring Nevada becomes the esports capital of the world.”
Esports has been growing so incredibly fast that the general population is being blind-sided by its huge global emergence. According to VentureBeat esports has 200 million fans in an $892 million market and it has doubled in only two years. Projections show esports growing by another 48% in 2017 and Las Vegas is looking to be center stage.