Do any of the documents from State’s recent fundraising drive hint at this, then?
For UNC, that’s how I first found out about several projects like an expansion for the journalism school and a renovation for its connection to Franklin Street. If I remember correctly, those projects were hinted at in Board of Trustees presentations before their master plan update (where you’d expect to see them first) was finalized.
Very cool! Thank you! 
And even though I have never touched a gaming console, joystick, etc. I do understand how important new emerging industries can help an area grow! 
However, I do wonder if this money will be going to Cary (instead of Raleigh) due to the new “campus” replacing Cary Towne Center? 
It might be, it just wasn’t on our radar. The facilities group helps with siting and building the facilities so we typically have an idea of what’s in the pipeline. But I think there are always a few things that are surprising.
“Cyberathlete” is worse…
Not sure what’s needed for an esport arena. Guess a large area for contestants to set, as well as a large screen and a seating for spectators? Maybe a could be man to work using Reynolds ??? If that’s a case 12M should go a long ways.
That wouldn’t make sense because we’re talking about NC State, which doesn’t have any land in Cary…
Anyways, if you Google some leading esports venues and competitions and read between the lines of this guide from a commercial venue planner or this article from Forbes, you can get an idea of the facilities they like to have. This press release about an esports stadium in Arlington, TX mentions these amenities that can host 4,000+ onsite attendees and over 300,000 online viewers:
This is not to mention the actual gaming consoles, desktops (which can cost like $2,000-$5,000 per unit), multiple monitors, and game software licenses. Studios for broadcasting, social media production etc. also seem to be a common feature for these sorts of places.
All in all, the capital requirements seem to be something like a small convention center with very high-end IT needs. $12M might be on the cheaper end if you compare it to professional venues, but like @ahops0428 pointed out, it does seem to be in the right ballpark.
As a real athlete, playing a game while sitting in a $75 game chair is not a sport. It’s a hobby at most. Track, Football, Soccer and Cheerleading… are sports.
Edit: I’m just going on a rant. But I do believe this is a good investment.
I played a sport in college, too, but if the Triangle becomes the hub of a sport/game/hobby/who-cares that has a huge audience, particularly among younger demographics with high disposable income, it’s more than fine by me.
Still probably won’t watch, but it’s good for the region.
I know I’m being a curmudgeon, I don’t care. I just happen to think it is objectively bad and dumb and if a bunch of people spend money on it or watch it then it’s evidence that we live in a dystopian hellscape.
I didn’t go to State but my sense is that turning Reynolds into an “eSports” [cringe] arena would cause a literal riot. And more importantly hurt donations
Not sure I’m with you on the hellscape part. It comes down to a university identifying a potential new revenue stream in an industry that’s clearly growing rapidly year over year.
If you have an axe to grind I’m sure you can find out the sponsors of the bill as it says it went through the state legislature. I’m sure they’d love to hear your feedback.
It is a sunny day much like today. Birds are chirping in the trees, people are walking their dogs, on the NC State campus a few students play League of Legends against some kids from Clemson while other young people from around the world watch them via Twitch, or in the stands of the new arena. Other students have decided to watch the baseball game instead, and are also having fun.
As you can see, I have clearly described the imminent dystopian hellscape. May God have mercy on our souls.
My thinking is making it a duel use venue. It is my understanding about only use now is for woman’s basketball and a few other small sports. Maybe could be modified to where could convert it into E-sports use during off season. Designed so could be converted between uses in just a few days work. I remember going to concerts there in middle of basketball season before the remodel. A stage on south end and seating on main floor where court was a day or so before, then couple days later was back to basketball. I think the rioting was spent then moved men’s basketball out.
I’m mostly interested to know why a dedicated arena/building is needed when the convention center is hosting these today? Yeah, what is a place like the RCC lacking that needs a dedicated space?
Good question, my immediate thoughts jumped to capacity? I don’t know how many seats were dedicated to the recent Halo tournament but one of those articles I linked mentioned the college that already has one has somewhere along the lines of 1,000 ish seats.
I’m sure from a technical perspective the RCC is up to ‘snuff without a doubt so I don’t think it would be that. Maybe NC State would have additional facilities built out to their own specifications too with their own dedicated space.
Maybe bc the city owns the convention center and the university wants to control its own thing.
Also a facility that is purposes built will usually be better for that purpose than a multi- use facility. I can see something like that getting a lot of use.
I think this is it. Just like NC State’s struggle with the Canes for space at the PNC Arena, varisty teams at universities prefer to have their own dedicated space so that it’s easier to plan event and practice logistics.
Plus, esports facilities at universities like Washington (Seattle), UC Irvine, and Ohio State seem to also double as gaming lounges (read: amenities to justify more student fees for non-tuition university revenue), recruitment tools, and VR/multimedia labs. So functionally and superficially, it’s to NC State’s benefit to not have to worry about fighting over limited space with other potential tenants.
Yeah I am thinking a stage where the players sit with their rigs and some big screens to project to the audience is about all you need. Aside from all the IT infrastructure. I could it could easily be done in a multi-use facility.
NC State’s master plan is getting an update, and I just realized there’s a whole website for it -complete with summaries on what people (dis)like there. The findings there are being turned into new ideas for campus buildings and infrastructure, some of which you could learn about if you go to the virtual open forum using this link.
Something to remember: the opinions of community members seem to be severely underrepresented. If you think the findings below are wrong and you want to correct the public record, I certainly won’t stop you if you click the link above to change that!
Anyways, these are the areas that State’s students, faculty, and staff want to see changed…
…and where they like just the way they are.
Other than obvious landmarks, people have shown a willingness to preserve the forests around Lake Raleigh, the animal resources around the Vet School, and the fields of the Carter-Finley Stadium. They’re very keen on transforming campus crossings like the Dan Allen and Avent Ferry intersections or railroad underpasses, as well as older dorms and north campus classrooms. Spaces for startups and public-private partnerships like the Partner and Venture buildings have contradicting signals, but it did come up in multiple surveys that many people who are regularly on campus don’t “feel welcome” around there.
Getting more into the results, students have shown that they find the following places hard to walk around as pedestrians…
…and that they feel unsafe (e.g. Hillsborough St., the Western/Avent Ferry intersection) and/or unwelcome (e.g. Centennial Campus, eastern campus dorms) at these places.
Also notice that literally no one has said much of anything about the future Spring Hill area. The current (old) master plan envisions this place as a mixed-use area that’ll blend NCSU with Dix Park, but it seems like no one knows or cares about that idea as of now.
I used to work in the Venture buildings and it hardly felt welcoming to workers either. Cold, bland, and nothing really to do at lunch or after work.
The sheer 80s-ness of the plan is kind of baked in at this point, I wonder what they could even do to improve that part of Centennial Campus.
I don’t know if I would say that community members are severely underrepresented. There is a high focus on the people who interact on and within campus every day, which makes sense.
Spring Hill is still on the radar (I believe it was where the Amazon location was going to be if they came to Raleigh), but it’s really far in the future. There are other areas on Centennial Campus that will be developed first and frankly there just isn’t enough need, money, or manpower within the university to do it all at once. I would expect the new master plan will show how they anticipate that area being used.