Appealing to millennials, Las Vegas gets e-sports arena
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The arena has all the features that a professional sports venue needs: stands, warm-up areas for teams, massive 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.
Las Vegas casinos have invested in numerous 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 technologies, more reliable internet speeds and a generation of gamers that has grown up watching competitive matches on YouTube and other sites.
The sport now draws tens of millions of spectators to online platforms and real-world venues, including New York City's Madison Square Garden, the Los Angeles' Staples Center and Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena, which earlier this month saw 16 of the world's best CS: