A new arena for the Kent State Esports team is under construction on the second floor of the library.

The team has sponsors interested in helping to fund the arena and they are still trying to figure out who will be naming the facility.

Maria Hawkins, director of esports operations said, “We have a budget that we work with and we are looking for outside sponsors to fund part of it so it is a little bit of a pick and pull from different places.”

The arena will be an extension of one of the spaces already used by the esports team.

“The biggest thing we have to focus on is making sure we have enough space for our largest team, which plays 6v6, so we want to make sure that we have enough space for every team to play and practice in,” Hawkins said. “Another big thing that is important is that we have a broadcasting area because all of our matches are broadcast on Twitch or other entities that we may be using to stream matches in the future.”

All of the teams online tournaments will be played in the arena and will also host local tournaments where other teams can come to compete against Kent State. National Collegiate Esports (NCE), which is an organization the team is newly affiliated with, is now allowing different schools in the area to host tournaments. It will also be used for combines as well as local area network parties. 

“Our club and JV teams will also be in the space as much as our other players are,” Hawkins said.

The arena will also feature a large LED screen, an LED scoreboard and a spectator area for fans and students to watch matches.

The goal is for the arena to be completed by spring semester, however it could take longer.

Contact Aidan Coyne at [email protected].