America's First eSports Arena Arrives In Columbus, Ohio
Major League Gaming announced on Thursday that it has established an eSports arena in Columbus, Ohio. The first event to be held in the new state-of-the-art facility will be the MLG Call of Duty: Ghosts Pro League Season 3 Playoffs from October 24-26. Eight of the best teams will be competing for $75,000 in prizes, $30,000 of which will be awarded to the first place winner.
According to the organization, the MLG.tv Columbus Arena is a 14,000 square-foot venue playing host to bleacher seating for hundreds of spectators. Soundproof booths and warm up areas are available for players and teams, and there's a broadcast platform for live commentating and video screens for watching the competition.
Adam Apicella, EVP of MLG Properties, indicated that the arena was established in Columbus because there are 62 colleges in the region as well as 200,000 high school and university students in the 11-county area. Columbus is also close to the MLG's east coast audience.
A representative of MLG told Tom's Hardware that the arena will be located near the Easton Mall. Currently, the organization doesn't have any pictures to share, but the rep said that the first event will be similar to the setup used at the MLG X Games Invitational at the X Games in Austin back in June.
The rep also said that Columbia has played host to a number of successful MLG events to date. As an example, more than 15,000 spectators attended the MLG Championship at the Greater Columbus Convention Center last year.
Once the Season 3 Playoffs are completed, the MLG will use the facility to host events on a regular basis. The facility will also serve as a "backdrop" for MLG.tv coverage in a live environment. MLG plans to announce additional events soon and offer VIP and spectator tickets.
Fans wanting to grab spectator passes for the Season 3 Playoffs can do so beginning Friday, September 26 at 5pm ET in the MLG online store. You can also watch the tournament live on MLG.tv.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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jmonaco5 This may be the kick in the pants needed for the PC market! It will certainly drive more sales on the enthusiast end.Reply -
RIPPEDDRAGON ReplyI guess its better than Olympic Power Walking.
Don't knock it till you try it, of those guys walk faster than you run and can go for miles longer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racewalking
This is a good thing for sports! Remember back in the roman days? People would kill each other for sport... Evolution of mankind is a funny thing. We live in a digital world, embrace E-Sports, they will be the future.