TSM to build biggest esports training facility in North America

In a move worth $13 million, Team SoloMid is working on a state of the art training facility dedicated to their competitive esports teams. 

The 25,000 square foot facility is being built in Playa Vista, a west Los Angeles neighborhood. Set to finish in February of 2020, this facility will be the largest esports training facility in North America. Even the Team Liquid Alienware training facility pales in comparison at just 9,000 square feet. 

TSM’s location will feature not only training rooms, but also a built-in gym and wellness center. Determined to recreate the same successes found in traditional sports training facilities, TSM will also have an in-house sports psychologist. TSM’s goal is to optimize all aspects of its training processes. 

Although this news may bring hope to LCS fans, TSM’s League of Legends team has not seen such success for a couple of years now. Disregarding controversial roster trades, TSM’s management is under fire for the seeming disrespect of its own players and for potentially contributing to mentality issues. 

TSM’s issues lead to another missed LoL World Championship

In 2018, Michael “MikeYeung” Yeung was TSM’s new jungler. After an initial failure to perform, he was released from the team. He confessed that TSM’s enormous pressure and tense interior culture were the main reasons for his shortcomings.

In 2019, TSM’s chosen jungler Matthew “Akaadian” Higgenbotham was able to help secure a finals appearance in the spring playoffs. However, in the summer split Akaadian had to compete for the position with a former jungler, Johnathan “Grig” Armao, in spite of Akaadian having proved his worth during the spring. Akaadian was eventually selected to start, but then later was dumped for Mingyi “Spica” Lu, a rookie with zero LCS experience. Now, for the second year in a row, TSM has failed to qualify for the League of Legends World Championship.

This could also prove to be a transformative year in TSM’s history as ironic mid laner Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg may elect to walk away from the franchise for other opportunities.

A high quality training facility is likely to be a big step in helping to improve TSM’s growth in the coming years. But if their location is the only thing that is meant to change and their self-destructive philosophy continues to persist, it is hard to see a world in which TSM returns to its former glory.