$1.65 billion market by 2021
Melco Resorts and Entertainment has opened the first eSports stadium in Macau at its Studio City property in the Cotai district.
In announcing the launch, Studio City Property President Geoff Andres said eSports is “a fast-growing market segment that is constantly innovating and evolving. Melco is confident that this venue will allow us to further cater to younger patrons while continue to bring fresh and novel experiences to all our guests.”
The venue called Macau eStadium can accommodate up to 274 customers and is equipped with leading-edge technologies that will enable it to host eSports tournaments, virtual gaming leagues and professional players from around the world. According to GGRAsia, the venue was developed in partnership with Kowloon eStadium and All-In eSports.
The venue can accommodate multiplayer gaming tournaments as well as live-streamed events from around the world that can be broadcast in Mandarin and Cantonese. Most eSports players are under the age of 30, Melco noted, and Chinese players account for more than half of the global audience.
“We think eSports is a new trend in entertainment around Asia and the world,” Andres said. “We want to be in the front and take the leading edge in this type of entertainment activity. So, this is just the beginning.”
Lawrence Ho, Melco chairman and CEO, said in May that the company planned to augment the entertainment at Studio City including “Asia’s largest virtual reality zone” and a “fantastic new street of food and beverage.”
The VR park should be open by Chinese New Year in 2019, Andres said. The 50,000-square-foot attraction will feature “fantastic technology and experiences for people to immerse themselves in that new excitement and entertainment.
“In the next 12 to 18 months, Studio City is going to be the most fun place in Macau,” Andres predicted. “We really have a lot of new things going on around this environment and it’s fun for people of all ages.”
Casino News Daily cited Newzoo’s latest Global eSports Market Report which said the eSports market was worth around $655 million in 2017 and could grow 38 percent this year to $906 million—and keep growing to $1.65 billion by 2021. Newzoo’s report said China and North America will generate more than a half of global eSports revenue this year.
