Blizzard has built their own Arena to house eSports and Overwatch League

Blizzard announced this morning that they've built their own housing for eSport events called, Blizzard Arena Los Angeles. The newly completed facility has been custom designed with certain amenities to host eSport competitions and its fans.

Hearthstone and Overwatch events have already been scheduled as Blizzard intends for this new Arena to be a premier locale for eSports competition. The Blizzard Arena has been built in a way that multiple events can take place simultaneously, thanks to multiple control rooms, sound stages, and player lounges.

According to their blog, Blizzard says:

The Overwatch Contenders Playoffs will run the weekend of October 7–8 and serve as the grand opening event of Blizzard Arena Los Angeles. The top Overwatch Contenders teams from Europe and North America will arrive to battle over prize pools and regional dominance as they take center stage at the Arena.

On October 13, the Summer Championship for the Hearthstone Championship Tour takes over the Arena for a full weekend of championship competition with $250,000 on the line. The players left standing will be the final entrants in the Hearthstone World Championship, scheduled for early 2018.

When the Overwatch League launches later this year, Blizzard Arena Los Angeles will be the home for the inaugural season, bringing players and fans together for a celebration of professional Overwatch esports.

It's easy to see from this news that Blizzard is investing heavily into eSports with their deep pockets. Between the massive investment that is the Overwatch League and now this, Blizzard is going all in on eSports and more importantly, their franchises Overwatch, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm and Starcraft.

One thing that I noticed and would like to point out, is the naming convention that Blizzard used for this arena, calling it, Blizzard Arena Los Angeles. A simple Blizzard Arena would have sufficed, but perhaps if this arena is a success, we could potentially get more Blizzard Arenas around the country and perhaps internationally, like Blizzard Arena New York, Blizzard Arena San Francisco, Blizzard Arena Shanghai, Blizzard Arena Syndey, etc., etc.

Either way, eSports is growing and fastly becoming a more legit "sport" than some traditionalists would like, but when it hits the Olympics in 2024, it's going to be even bigger.