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IPFS News Link • Texas

Texas Is Building A Huge Stadium For A Billion-Dollar Sport: Video Games

• https://www.fastcodesign.com

And it looks like a really big sports bar–in a good way!

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.