A new flagship gaming and Esports arena is set to open next year.
Multi-million pound funding has been secured for the 15,000 square foot arena in Sunderland and will be Europe’s first-of-its-kind 5G facility.
The 200-seat arena will be built alongside the city’s famous Stadium of Light, the home of the Premier League football team.
Work will begin as soon as September and will open in 2026.
Its main function will be to support competitive video game players in tournaments like the Esports World Cups and Olympic Esports Games.
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Athletes will be able to practice under tournament conditions, replicating the conditions of a live esports competition.
The arena will also play host to students and future talent, which will help train them for school and college tournaments.
The Gaming and Esports Arena will also play host to live music events, esports community events and national competitions.
The city already has links to esports with the National Esports Performance Campus (NEPC) opened in the city in 2023.
It has hosted an array of esports teams, including Esports World Cup winners Team Falcons, national Great Britain teams in NBA 2K
and Rocket League.
Adam Payne OBE, chair of British Esports, said the new arena would be ‘our St George’s Park for esports’ that will ‘help train the next generation
of esports talent’.
He added: ‘The flexibility of the arena will be what makes it a sustainable
facility that drives value back to British Esports, so that we can do more work for our community.’
Councillor Michael Mordey hailed the development as ‘one of the most ambitious regeneration schemes in the UK right now.’
He said: ‘It is a game-changing development which will cement Sunderland’s reputation as the home of esports in the UK.’
Mordey added that it would be a boost to the economy by creating high-skilled jobs for local people and attracting visitors from across the globe.
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