This Friday, Millennial Esports will be opening a new esports arena in the downtown area of Las Vegas. The Esport Studio and Arena is slated to be a permanent fixture in Las Vegas, providing a state-of-the-art facility seating as many as 200 people comfortably. The venue can offer 24/7 operations with enough space to host esport tournaments as well as special events. The facility will begin operations by featuring the 2017 Halo World Championship qualifier on opening day.

The facility is 15,000 square feet in size and will provide a warm-up area for gamers as well as staff members, a VIP space and a large studio that will be used for analysis of game play. Speaking to the Las Vegas Sun, CEO of Millennial Esports, Alex Igelman, stated that as soon as he got into the industry, he knew that he wanted to be in Las Vegas, specifically the downtown area. The demographic and downtown scene is perfect for esports, according to Igelman.

The Halo World Championship is a much-anticipated event, with 12 teams competing and a prize pool of $1 million on offer. The weekend LAN tournament that will take place at the Las Vegas venue will be the second qualifier for the teams in North America. In March, the arena is set to host another event, this time for Madden NFL 17.

Interest in esports has grown over the past few years at a rapid pace, particularly in Las Vegas. Events such as the Evolution Championship Series, League of Legends events and a Counter-Strike tournament have taken place in Sin City in recent years.

Operators in Las Vegas as well as across the United States are considering alternatives to casino gaming to earn revenues. Esports is one way that gaming operators can provide new content or events that will be enticing to the millennial generation. The younger audience has a need to be stimulated further than standard casino gaming as the generation has grown up with laptops, smart phones and gaming consoles.

When speaking with the Associated Press, Seth Schorr, a board member of Millennial Esports, stated that Las Vegas needs to continue to reinvent themselves to stay relevant with the up-and-coming generation. The esports arena is one such option that could see great success in the city of gaming.