A few years ago I was wandering through old Las Vegas when I came upon what was a deserted mall, and was being “transformed” into a gaming center. What the reality was was that the space was an old movie theater and some bare box space…a big dark, open room…which was converted into a space for consoles and could bring young people in at all hours of the day and night to play live games in one space with others from around the world. It was different from sitting at home because you could have teams interacting and competing, with a small space (the theater) that had a big screen and a spot for others to watch. Its as called the eArena and seemed like a great idea. However it was too early, too remote, a bit too dank, and a year later it was gone.
But the idea and the vision of recreation was not. I have had discussions with mall owners, whose business was fading before the Pandemic, about 3 x 3 basketball (an Olympic sport this year which has seen success in closed spaces like malls for years inn other countries), skating parks, multimedia content creation centers and other things. Also lets not forget about gambling. Remember OTB (Off Track Betting?) Who is to say some distressed mall space can’t be made into efficient brick and mortar sports gambling locations as legislation continues to grow. Just before the Pandemic, Esports Observer had a piece on how Brookfield Malls were revisiting the esports and gaming idea, and recently there was a story in Business Insider about how Epic Games was actually moving its headquarters to a distressed mall.
Now that we are coming out the other side of COVID, and gaming has not stopped growing (and esports is now on the rebound on an events side), the idea of malls for event spaces is one that will keep rising. Some thoughts.
Why malls? Pretty simple. Brick and mortar stores are disappearing; every major community has empty real estate that can be converted into the open space needed for an eArena. The cost to outfit is not massive and can be done in one design. The computing is portable and cloud based and now the growth of 5g has made the idea even smarter and faster; there is a need for strong secure wireless internet and some clean transmission to receive streaming from elsewhere. The upside is you have young engaged people coming in as traffic to watch, potentially purchase ancillary goods, eat and drink (we are not talking expensive cuisine and no liquor license since you are playing to minors) and enjoy their sport of choice. Every weekend can bring in a different game competition (keep in mind that is one of the great challenges of eSports and the learning curve; each game has its own fans, the crossover from say, NBA 2K or FIFA, Halo to World of War Craft is very low) not just to play in arena, but to WATCH the live stream of any myriad of events at any time of day from around the world.
Another important aspect of esports growth that smaller scale facilities can do on a consistent basis is to help congregate game supporters. There is a long standing feeling, like there used to be for fantasy sports, that eSports is an unhealthy loner activity. Players spend hours alone or with a select group of team members constantly playing a game staring at a screen. Interaction in gaming is largely through voice and text, no one ever actually sees anyone. An esports Arena changes that. As one gamer in Vegas named Patrick Hogan said to a local news crew on site, “ This place gives us a chance to interact and meet people, and even hang out with, many who we have known online for a long time and never met. It is great to be able to get out and meet people who have a similar interest, but also who are great at playing something we love as well.” Sounds an awful lot like the same thing AAU basketball players, or someone attending Comic-con may say. Interpersonal relationships at a core meeting place build real, not virtual friendships, and that communal meeting place not just for players but even for parents of those involved in eSports, is really invaluable.
Then there are the brands. While there is tremendous value for brands activating online on the massive audiences watching on platforms like Twitch, the in-arena experience where people can sample, engage and embrace products, from headphones to energy drinks to soft drinks to pizza, is really invaluable. Yes that can be done in massive stadium events, but those events that draw thousands in the US are really one-offs at select times (and for the most part remain loss leaders for the gaming companies who spend huge amounts of dollars on the infrastructure for stadium shows. Smaller events in common gathering place like the eArena present a very cost effective and hyper local way to engage. The smaller events also can be tied to a massive streaming activation for brands as well, giving an in person activation tied to a much larger audience and almost delivering twice the bang for the buck.
The smaller venues also give you a chance to always feel the intensity of the gaming. While in smaller events there are still challenges to understand who the players are and perhaps the star power of elite gaming is not on hand, tight quarters and a few hundred filled seats gives an importance to everything that is going on. It feels big time, and creates demand for more. Walk into an empty stadium for any sport, and you lose intensity. Go into a band box gym that is filled, and you get the sense that something here is important. That’s what you get with smaller scale eSports arenas.
And lets not forget the growth in the past two years of college and high school programs, many of which are probably not far from aging malls. The rent is there to be had for a fraction of the cost, and into that space, how about brining in some young communications students to work on broadcasting and content skills as well.
Now are there issues? For sure. What do you do with all the downtime when gamers are doing things like work or school? Can the ancillary startup costs led to bad debt? Can there be a flood into the market of such tricked out places that will exceed demand? There are also the skeptical that say eSports remains a fad.
It is not. What it is today is very similar to where MMA was about 10 years ago. It is the hot property looking to be understood. Ten years ago a wide group of MMA promotions rushed to do large scale events and pay per views, and almost all went the way of the dinosaur pretty quickly. The big events like the UFC and even Strikeforce thrived because they understood the business model. What was thriving were the small events in gyms, clubs and theaters that were cost controlled, intense and valuable to a core audience. Same with eSports.
Yes you will have the occasional big arena show to varying degrees of success, but they will be just that, elite events. The value is in smaller cost contained venues where rent is cheaper, the space is plentiful and the ability to congregate, market and engage with fans is both strategic and high.
So whether it is esports or indoor basketball, take a look at the local mall. We can’t tear them all down, and the vacancy of big areas can lead us to new engagement. More lessons learned and rethinking what’s old into what can be new again.
