British Esports Association opens brand-new National Esports Performance Campus

British Esports Association opens brand-new National Esports Performance Campus

27 January 2022

Last week, another big development for esports in UK was announced by the British Esports Association (BEA) as the organisation revealed a multi-million-pound commitment to the city of Sunderland on North East England. More specifically, the BEA acquired retail premises right next to the city’s Stadium of Light, the ground of local Championship side Sunderland AFC and ninth largest stadium in England. The association is planning to build a campus where education and coaching will be provided to competitive players of esports in the UK, as well as to aspiring professionals and other people looking for a role in the industry.

National Esports Performance Campus and esports in the UK

The main mission of the brand-new National Esports Performance Campus, which will open in the summer of 2022, will be to support and nurture the next generation of esports talent, but that’s not all. Besides the previously mentioned educational and coaching courses for esporters and other industry profiles, the BEA will also use the campus to host esports events, to organise community tournaments, and to set up summer camps. On top of that, it will also be used by the Great Britain esports team as their training base.

What’s more, the creation of the new campus is considered a social and economic stimulant for the region as a whole, as it will provide access to equipment, training, and investment for the city of Sunderland, the entire North East region, and esports in the UK overall. By opening a state-of-the-art facility in Sunderland, the BEA wants to create a world-class international esports hub to attract and develop some of the world’s best esports talent.

“The UK is Europe’s second-biggest video game market and ranked sixth globally”, said Chester King, CEO of the British Esports Association, when the campus was announced, “This speaks to the potential of esports which will capitalise on gaming’s popularity, with talented competitors emerging and a growing audience keen to spectate and enjoy esports as a leisure activity. This is a market that we know will explode in the UK and we want to support its growth”.

Esports stimulating local and regional growth

We always try to report on promising developments in the field of esports in the UK, especially when projects and initiatives carry a significant benefit for cities and regions as a whole. Very much like, for example, the massive £4.5 million sponsorship deal closed by Guild Esports earlier this month, the creation of an ambitious multi-million esports facility in Sunderland shows that esports in the UK are here to stay and can represent an effective stimulus of social and economic activity.

“The British Esports Association’s move puts Sunderland at the beating heart of esports and we couldn’t be more pleased”, said Sunderland City Council chief executive Patrick Melia in reaction to the announcement of the NEPC. His words were underlined by the City Council’s leader Graeme Miller, who labelled the construction of the National Esports Performance Campus as a game-changing development for Sunderland.

News