The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians last week announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with the Canadian League of Gamers’ “Northern Arena,” the largest professional eSports league in Canada.
The partnership will result in the creation of Southern Arena and build upon the success of Northern Arena to create a North American professional eSports league.
Northern Arena’s events in 2016 are expected to attract an astounding 4 million eSports fans through streaming video and 10,000 fans onsite. Southern Arena’s two events in the fall and next spring are expected to attract 5,000 fans onsite and over half a million viewers online.
Darrell Mike, tribal chairman for the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians says, “Building Southern Arena as a world-class professional eSports league is the first of its kind for the 486 Indian gaming operations in the US. Being on the cutting edge of the eSports movement will benefit not only the Tribe and its members, but more importantly build on the Coachella Valley brand as the capital of entertainment and hospitality in the United States.”
Greg Spievak, co-founder of the Canadian League of Gamers, says it will vastly expand the reach of his league.
“eSports is exploding with interest and becoming one of the fastest growing sports in the world,” says Spievak. “The eSports market in 2016 is estimated to generate $1.3 billion in gross revenues, which is close to the $1.5 billion the NFL generates. According to Fortune magazine (October 2015), eSports revenue will surpass $1.9 billion in 2018.”
The visionary behind Northern and Southern Arena and co-founder of the Canadian League of Gamers, Carl-Edwin Michel said he is “enthusiastic to oversee Southern Arena events and absolutely thrilled about the partnership between the Canadian League of Gamers and the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians.”
