The British Esports Association (BEA), the UK’s national body for esports, has announced that it will open a campus for “Esports Performance and Education” at Riverside Sunderland, with the aim of supporting the next generation of gamer talents, as the interest and reach of esports themselves grows in the UK.
The BEA has made a multi-million dollar commitment with and for the city of Sunderland, having acquired a former commercial space adjacent to the Stadium of Light (facility where the local team of the famous Netflix series “Sunderland ‘Til I Die” plays, ed) where it will establish its National Esports Performance Campus (NEPC).
The NEPC will become a center of excellence by providing access to state-of-the-art equipment, training and investment that will support Sunderland and more generally across the UK. with the aim of becoming a globally recognized esports hub capable of attracting and nurturing the best talents in the esports world.
The campus will offer training and coaching courses for players, but not only: also for all other roles within the esports sector and will feature dedicated esports classrooms, showrooms, streaming booths for shoutcaster skills and a space in the arena. It will regularly host eSports events, community tournaments and will be used as training ground for Britain’s national esports team, which recently took part in the Global Esports Games in Singapore.
Chester King, chief executive of BEA, said: “The UK is Europe’s second largest video game market, sixth globally: here are some interesting potentials to discover; with emerging gamers and a growing audience eager to watch and enjoy eSports in a light but important way. This is a market that we know will explode in the UK and we want to support its growth ”.
“Sunderland is an extremely ambitious, future-oriented city that closely aligns with BEA’s philosophy and esports: vast growth potential, the perfect trade union with the city. The campus will be a place of inspiration, a place where players and coaches can work, learn and grow. This is a necessary one: all together we understand and we will understand its importance ”.
Patrick Melia, chief executive of Sunderland City Council, said: “Esports have been a global success in the last period. It is a rapidly growing market in the United Kingdom: in the next few years it will be even more so. BEA’s move puts Sunderland at the center of all this: we can only be happy about it ”.
Councilor Graeme Miller, Chief of the Sunderland City Council, said: “This is a truly revolutionary new scenario for Sunderland and we couldn’t be more excited about it. We are happy that the British Esports Association has chosen our city for its NEPC ”.