8 minute read
HKS: Architecture and design
Dustin Sweeney Senior Designer - Esports
Architecture and design
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Esports venue opportunities, multipurpose stadiums of the future -- giving fans multi opps for entertainment during a day out at an event
AUTHOR Laura Byrne @SimplyLaura123
How do you host an esports event in a venue that manages to suit players, sponsors and the fans? Most tournaments and leagues have been run from one main arena, such as the Blizzard Arena in Burbank California. However, in the next few years, we will see an increase in custom built and multi-faceted arenas for professional teams — such as the Philadelphia Fusion who announced a $50million(£38m), 3,500- seat arena for the 2021 Overwatch League season.
Behind these arenas are not just teams and investors but the architecture firms that are leading the innovations to improve all facets of fan engagement and sponsorship spaces. Dustin Sweeney, Senior Designer - Esports at HKS knows all about this after the companies work on the LA Stadium and Entertainment District in the Los Angeles Metro Area.
Dustin talked us through where he sees the future of esports venues, giving fans the most engagement opportunities and how multipurpose stadiums are vital.
The Esports Journal: When and how did esports first appear on HKS’s radar? Dustin Sweeney: Esports and competitive gaming have been on our radar for the better part of a decade. We have been working on a number of esports projects with our partners and team owners for traditional sports. As global competitions began to draw participation levels of 30,000 and 40,000 consistently, we knew this trend wasn’t going away. Today one of our premier projects - the LA Stadium and Entertainment District in the Los Angeles Metro Area, will include targeted programming to ensure esports is a prime consideration for venue scheduling and programming. As a category leader in creating premier sports venues globally that are both brand-focused and programmed to inspire audiences and fans, we knew early on that esports would be territory where we had to plant our flag.
ESJ: What is HKS’s key objective for sponsoring Esports Insider events? DS: We recognise the tremendous value opportunity the Esports Insider events present. We recently participated in the London presentation, which provided us with several immediate branding discussions and ventures. Events like these solidify the esports industry by inviting a wide array of stakeholders to learn more about how this industry is poised to redefine what it means to be a competitive sport.
By sponsoring these events, we hope to demonstrate our commitment to the shared esports community. HKS has more than 25 years of experience designing and developing places of performance, congregation, and spectatorship. Our goal is to create places that deliver unparalleled experiences for visitors and unmatched performance for ownership. We’re not here to make esports bigger. We’re here to contribute to making esports an even better, more entertaining experience for all.
ESJ: What can people expect from your attendance and session involvement at ESI NYC? DS: Hopefully, our participation will add a new voice to the discussion. There has been a good deal of chatter among developers touting outrageous growth potential for esports and unheard-of levels of interactivity. The questions we are addressing focus on how best to create a successful venue – one that is financially viable and designed to meet the ever-changing landscape. Also, how are you going to use that potential to create a genuinely smarter venue, not just a bigger venue? A space that will provide not only a venue to large events but opportunities to host small, intimate media interactions. These potential venue types must have the ability to play host to more events than there are days in a calendar year.
Estadio TSM Corona Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico
There should never be a “dark day” if the venue is programmed and activated accordingly. For example, when we designed AT&T Stadium for the Dallas Cowboys, it was with the knowledge that this venue would play host to so many other major events beyond NFL games. Concerts. NCAA basketball and football. Auto and truck events. Trade shows. When we design for esports, it needs to be the same thinking that allows for maximising the use of the facility.
ESJ: HKS has helped create some impressive sports venues, is there a future where you will be working on some esports venue? DS: HKS understands the unique characteristics of gaming, and esports at its centre, and the ability to leverage the innovations we have developed for traditional sports facilities. We are currently working with team owners on several esports venues of varying sizes. I think one of the greatest potentials for this community is the fact that the “venue” has yet to be truly defined. We don’t have a “standard playing surface” or configuration to adhere to or design around.
Currently, the only playing surface is a large LED screen, or is it really? Maybe it’s an entire arena where everyone wears a VR or AR headset. If that’s true, why are we designing venues that look and operate like theatres? Why would fans of esports simply buy a ticket, enter the building, find their seat and
consume what’s being fed to them from the stage? What if by merely showing up to the venue as a spectator, you were able to influence the outcome of the match? What If I could interact with the venue in other ways than just sitting in my seat and watching? What if my interaction and participation enhanced my favourite team/player’s abilities or hindered my team’s opponents? These are the concepts we are exploring to push this industry forward. Esports needs its own home. We should not be cramming this redefining competitive sport into a centuries-old venue type. My counterpart, Chi Bhatia, based in our London office, has been spearheading some really unique, nontraditional venue types that begin to answer some of these questions. Much of this venue redefining work is coming to life in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
ESJ: The Overwatch League announced for 2020 they will be going on the road. In your opinion what elements will be key in order for teams to create successful home venues? DS: A home venue needs to fully support and enhance the shared goals and ideals of a community that comes together to feel they are all connected to and one
ESJ: Where do you see the future of esports venues heading? DS: There is a real opportunity for more social spaces, where fans can freely migrate to different zones throughout the venue, gather with like-fans and friends, and just watch from a standing position. Designers may look to utilise the venue concourses in different ways, perhaps by designating more space to enable sponsors to activate while the event takes place. Or additionally by creating specific areas for game developers to beta-test new releases or operate R&D labs. The concourse becomes a crucial link to the gaming action and a hub where fans and friends can meet and socialise.
U.S. Bank Stadium Minneapolis, Minnesota
with the action. Team spirit permeates the venue and serves as base camp for the community of fans. If a fan or supporter can’t visit and interact with the venue on an “off day” you just killed the spirit and hope that it means to be a part of your community.
Similarly, the esports community is only now becoming physical; this all starts in the digital, basic branding 101, continuity through message, activation, and presentation. The more continuity you have in your message, the easier it will be for your audience to get behind the core message and then repeat it to potential new fans. The most successful home venues will be the ones that best translate their core brand values into a physical and emotional experience. If a brand message can’t make that transformation, the brand (and team) will suffer. Another large influence on the potential for esports venues is the progress of wireless communications. New thinking beyond steel, concrete and turf is now needed. The technology and streaming infrastructure which supports interactivity, social media sharing, and new revenue generation requirements are key in development planning. 5G is literally going to redefine our access to information and entertainment, with our limitations no longer being defined by device and location. This changes
AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas
everything, someone who is physically at the event can get the same digital experience as someone who is 1000 miles away, how do we design for this?
Finally, our current markets like to define themselves as “disruptive”. Consumers, especially in the esports demographic, are not buying into the standard ideas of consumerism. Gaining brand attraction is about how you react, accept, and respond to current cultural events, one misstep and half your audience will disappear. This volatility is going to have a major impact on how brands and teams choose to embrace their physical experience.
Given the nature of the millennial audience and the need for the venue to have a continual occupation, stadiums must be more than the legacy model. It used to be about sheer size, but now everyone’s focused on the convergence of the physical and digital experience, increasing connectivity in the stadium to bring fans closer to the players and to each other. Do teams play it safe and build another “typical” concert/ performance venue? Or do they really try to define themselves, and their brand, by embracing a truly new concept, and home, for esports?
