The Gaming Stadium
The Gaming Stadium is Canada’s first dedicated esports facility, located in Richmond, BC. Its goal is to become a community hub for tournaments, viewing parties, charity events, coaching & training, and production. The stadium truly is an esport fans’ and players’ dream. Their state-of-the-art, custom-built, facility make the experience second to none. Their team is stacked with esports veterans who have been running tournaments and events for almost a decade and are evangelists in the esports community.
Traction
Since their massive grand opening in late June that saw a packed stadium, they have seen a steady increase in visitation (up 66%) as well as in retail sales (up 74%). They have also secured an impressive partner base includes Hyper X, Vertagear, Red Bull, Pepsi, Telus, Ginx TV, Memory Express, and more, and continue to see huge brands seek to become part of the experience.
They are currently expanding the number of their facilities as they are opening a stadium in Burnaby, BC within the near future. They are also looking to open an additional two stadiums next year with their eyes set on Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, and Regina with expansion into the USA to follow.
Team
Spiro Khouri, CEO – Spiro has a rich history of experience in the sports and entertainment world. He formally worked for the Vancouver Canadian and then with Great Canadian Casinos where e led the creation and execution of the first esports lounge in a casino in Canada. Spiro has been involved in hosting and setting up esports tournaments in Vancouver for the past 4 years.
Matthew Low, VP Operations – Matt, better known as Matticus, started one of the earliest World of Warcraft blogs in 2007. After he beat the game multiple times, he migrated over to a little known game called Hearthstone. Eager to meet with other card enthusiasts, he took it upon himself to start a Hearthstone meetup that became massive. Matt is truly an esports veteran.
Steve Noel, Manager, Sales & Marketing – Steve has worked in gaming and esports for almost a decade where he was previously at Memory Express as their community manager which ignited his passion for community, esports, and gaming. Steve joined the TGS team to lead content and community in a gaming-focused environment
Helen Fan, General Manager – Helen has an extensive esports background where she was previously at Collegiate Starleague, an online, collegiate esports league. For two years she served as the lead League of Legends tournament administrator (TA). Now with The Gaming Stadium, Helen has worked with her events team on a daily basis to bring exciting and meaningful experiences to BC.
Funding
The Gaming Stadium raised a private first round in late 2018 to get the facility up and running and is now raising $2.25 million with the plan to go public in early 2020. This capital will be used to fund a national and international expansion with their eyes set on some major cities as well as hire additional experts to grow revenue in specific categories related to their road map.
Revenue Streams
1 – Tournaments and Event registration
2 – Sponsorship
3 – Retail sales including food, beverage, and merchandise
4 – Youth Initiatives including coaching, after school programs, and camps
5 – Content development including Twitch and YouTube
6 – Private venue rentals and birthday parties
Details