Can Cary become a destination for esports events? New sports complex will be critical
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Calling all gamers
North Carolina wants to become a hub for competitive multiplayer video gaming events — also known as esports. As such, the latest state budget includes millions of dollars to attract esports events. Some colleges in the state also want to get in on the action with custom facilities, esports teams and new degree programs. Can NC become a go-to destination for gamers? This is the N&O’s special report.
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Can Cary become a destination for esports events? New sports complex will be critical
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The town of Cary is home to several video game publishers, including industry juggernaut Epic Games, the company behind smash hits like “Fortnite” and “Rocket League.”
Epic’s games are so popular they regularly draw thousands of players and spectators to events around the country. The Fortnite World Cup, for example, filled the Arthur Ashe tennis stadium in New York City the last time it was held in 2019.
But can Cary itself become the host of some of these growing esports events? The town hopes so. But what it needs is a place to hold the events.
Doug McRainey, director of Cary’s Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department, believes it could be close to finally creating one.
The town is currently in negotiations to build a town-sponsored sports complex on the site of the South Hills Mall & Plaza.
If the negotiations are successful, the $193 million planned complex could become key to Cary’s attempts to host more esports events in the town.
The complex has been planned for years, though its future was thrown up in the air by Epic Games itself.
Cary had originally planned to build the arena on the Cary Towne Center property, but that idea became null and void after Epic bought the mall. Epic plans to turn the old mall into its headquarters. Its rezoning case is currently being heard by the town council.
“We’re now in the initial stages of negotiating to potentially place” the sports complex at the South Hills property, McRainey said in an interview.
The sports complex is important, he said, because it would be designed in such a way to create a 4,000-seat arena, opening up the possibility for a diversity of events, including esports. “We will definitely design it to make sure that we could host a large esport event,” McRainey said.
Before the pandemic, the town hosted its own “Rocket League” tournament as a chance to build experience putting on an esports event. More than 1,000 people ended up attending, and Lenovo provided laptops, McRainey said. The town plans to host a similar event in the spring.
“We are trying to build a feel for the industry: What works? What doesn’t? What’s our niche?” he said.
Esports has become an increased focus of the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau, and McRainey said the Cary complex isn’t meant to directly compete with events coming to Raleigh but rather complement them.
He expects that esports will grow enough in the coming years to justify the focus. Already there are more than 2.4 billion gamers in the world, according to research firm Statista. And revenues from esports were expected to exceed $1 billion last year, another report from games researcher Newzoo found.
“By the time our facility is built (in a few years), the gaming tournament industry will be even larger,” McRainey said. “But the infrastructure isn’t necessarily there yet.”
“A lot of communities are trying to play catch-up. Dallas has a facility, and there’s a number of places that have built them,” McRainey added. “But more are needed.”
When asked whether Cary can leverage its homegrown video game giant Epic to create a thriving esports hub, McRainey said the town “would love that.” He noted there had been some discussions in the past with Epic, but nothing recently.
“We would love ... to partner with a company like Epic and work with them,” he said.
Epic declined to comment on whether it has plans to host games locally or take advantage of a new state program that would provide incentives for large esports events.
But the company is about to return to live events after pausing many of them, like its Fortnite World Cup, during the pandemic.
The company said in December that it is once again accepting proposals for events featuring “Fortnite.”
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
