Philadelphia Fusion break ground on new arena before OWL Grand Finals

The Philadelphia Fusion have officially started construction on the first ground-up esports arena in the Western hemisphere.

The $50 million, 3,500-seat arena will be located adjacent to the Xfinity! Live building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It will also hold smaller events in the off-season such as concerts and TED talks. Populous, a global sports and event architecture firm, is designing the arena.

Although 3,500 seats may not seem like a lot, Fusion CBO Joe Marsh discussed the arena’s size with WIN.gg.

“3,500 seats on a week-to-week basis is a really good number for the regular season, but when we go to do marquee events I think we have a great opportunity to go across the parking lot to the Wells Fargo Center,” Marsh said.

Unfortunately, the stadium won’t be ready for the 2020 season. That will have the Fusion using the Met Philly and the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey as its home arenas for the time being. The new venue will be completed and ready for the 2021 season, and will offer fans the opportunity to buy season tickets, get premium seats, or even rent out a box with a screen that follows a player of their choosing.

Featured in the arena are more than 2,000 feet of LED screens, a team store, a food counter called the “Ion Market”, a state of the art training facility, and powerful wifi so fans never have to wait to post on social media.

Senior Principal Brian Mirakian addressed the fans during his speech.

“This is going to be designed for the fans and there’s a lot of fans here today,” Mirakian said. “This is going to be designed for you.”

Philadelphia is hosting the Overwatch League Grand Finals at the Wells Fargo Center this weekend. 22,000 people will fill the seats of the stadium to watch the San Francisco Shock take on the Vancouver Titans in the Season Two Grand Finals.