Vegas Strip Getting E-sports Arena

E-sports companies are hoping Sin City will soon light up with Millennial cash, as a strip hotel is now signed on to have an arena dedicated to video game competitions.
EsportsAtlantaLumVsRen
AP Photo / David Goldman – EsportsAtlantaLumVsRen
Two teams compete in pixelated warfare onscreen at ELEAGUE arena at Turner Studios in Atlanta, May 24. The ELEAGUE competition, a joint venture between Turner and WME IMG, features 24 teams playing “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” for more than $1 million.
The Luxor Hotel and Casino, owned by MGM Resorts International, is partnering with Allied Esports to transform its nightclub into a 1,000-capacity arena with a stage, an LED video wall, and a production studio. The venue is projected to open in 2018.
The move is an attempt to draw in the increasing number of millennials pouring into Vegas.
“We’ve closely watched the growth and excitement around esports, and we are always looking for new amenities for our Vegas customers,” Luxor GM Niklas Rytterstrom said.
The Neonopolis entertainment complex in downtown Vegas already opened a venue dedicated to digital competition with a max capacity of 500 in the main room. 
According to Newzoo, a leading videogame intelligence company, about 115 million people saw e-sports live or online at least once a month in 2015.
Although the online demand for competitive video games is pretty firmly established, it has yet to be seen whether the events can consistently draw large crowds to live events at dedicated venues.
“The big thing about e-sports and video-gaming is (that) the profitability for the promoter is not necessarily in the [event gross], it’s in how they can convert people who are online to use their gaming service and sign up for their live streams,” Steve Kirsner, VP of booking and events at the SAP Center, recently told Pollstar.
Allied Esports has big plans, as it already has operations in China, Europe and North America and intends to open more venues in Oakland, Calif., and Shenzhen, China, later this year, according to ESPN.
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