By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
The California company that converted a Luxor hotel-casino club into a 30,000-square-foot, high-tech esports venue plans to use its flagship gamer venue as a model template for building esports arenas in Europe and Asia.
Allied Esports envisions a game plan where the Newport Beach, California-based company invests eight-figure amounts to build esports venues in a city like Paris or Amsterdam in Europe and a country like Japan or Korea in Asia, said Jud Hannigan, Allied Esports chief executive.
Allied Esports renovated the former club in Luxor into what is now called the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas, an impressive venue that just hosted NHL Vegas Golden Knights players such as William Karlsson, Alex Tuch and Malcolm Subban who played fans and gamers in the popular Fortnite “Battle Royale.”
The HyperX Esports Arena has hosted everything from gamers from the U.S., Canada and Europe during the Stanley Cup Finals in the spring to a League of Legends All-Stars event to even a non-esports event such as the quarterback draft by a new football league called The Alliance of American Football.
Hannigan said it was difficult to estimate the costs of the new esports venues in Asia and Europe because the scope of the content and equipment is unknown at this point. But it will be an investment into the seven and eight figures, he said.
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Hannigan said there could be regional esports tournaments at the Allied Esports venues in Asia and Europe, with the competition winners heading to Las Vegas for world finals events. Hannigan said Las Vegas is an attractive esports destination because the family and friends of the gamers often join the esports players for the trip to Southern Nevada.
The HyperX Esports Arena opened in March, with Allied Sports leasing the space from MGM Resorts International and Allied and MGM Resorts serving as partners, Hannigan said. There have been about 15-20 large esports events in the arena, while the venue is open weekly for gamers, he said. It’s accessible off the Luxor main floor and 85 percent of the events are esports, Hannigan said. Even the world karaoke championships were held there because of the venue’s production features. Capacity is about 1,000.
And Allied Esports hopes it’s a catalyst for esports venue growth around the world.
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