Charlton Athletic FC open dedicated gaming space in stadium
7 May 2025
Exciting times for the fans for Charlton Athletic FC, and not just because the team is currently preparing for the first leg of their League One promotion playoff semi-final against Wycombe Wanderers. That’s because a few days ago, the club officially opened a brand-new Cyberlabs Gaming Box, right inside their own stadium. The state-of-the-art entertainment and gaming facility is located in the famed Alan Curbishley Stand, and has started taking bookings since the start of May. Charlton is the latest football club to join the world of esports in the UK, after clubs like Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday preceded them in recent years.
Top-notch entertainment and gaming
The brand-new Cyberlabs Gaming Box in Charlton is a unique addition to the esports and gaming scene in the United Kingdom. The space is located bang in the middle of The Valley, the stadium that has been home to Charlton Athletic since 1919, and is promising an unrivalled experience. The Gaming Box is located in the Alan Curbishley Stand and is facing the pitch, which allows players and visitors to have a unique cross-over experience of gaming and football.
The space has been completely renovated and now boasts everything a passionate gamer could wish for. This includes Playstation 5s, a multitude of screens and monitors, a PSVR2 set (PlayStation’s Virtual Reality glasses) and two UNEVN PC Gaming desks. On top of that, the whole space has been equipped with gaming chairs by X Rocker, peripherals by Corsair and an X3000i projector by BenQ.
“Even if I wasn’t a fan, this partnership would be something special”, said Sam Cooke, co-founder at Cyberlabs, after the initial announcement of the collaboration with Charlton earlier this year, “It’s an honour to sponsor Charlton Athletic and be able to work closely with the club. We’re confident this initiative will provide the club another way to deliver for partners, diversify revenue, bring Charlton closer to more fans, strengthen our digital presence, and give fans the option of a different experience at The Valley. The Community Trust already does incredible work, and we believe this space can help to amplify their efforts too."
Multi-use space
The Cyberlabs Gaming Box at The Valley will be used for a variety of initiatives and activities. The club itself will make use of it as a media space and a space for the Charlton Athletic Community Trust, to start with. Besides that, people can also book the room on both matchdays and non-matchdays to organise birthday parties, gaming events and esports bootcamps, just to name a few examples. Like that, the Cyberlabs Gaming Box also represents an entirely new revenue stream for the club.
“We are excited to welcome the Cyberlabs Gaming Box to our matchday and non-matchday offerings here at The Valley in the Alan Curbishley Stand”, says Steve Sutherland, Head of Commercial at Charlton Athletic, “It is a state of the art and visually stunning addition, and we are confident that Cyberlabs will create memorable experiences for our supporters."