BIG RAPIDS, Mich. — eSports is a billion dollar industry worldwide, drawing players and viewers into competitive video games unlike ever before. Next month, a West Michigan college will debut the first arena built specifically for eSports in the entire state.
Jono Eaton helped form Ferris State University's eSports club in 2017.
"We had seven students, I was the eighth student to join," he says.
In 2020, it became a varsity sport, and Eaton became the program's coordinator. The team has now grown to 80 students.
For the first couple years, they were playing from home.
"Everybody's playing from their own dorms. We had no space on campus to kind of utilize," says Eaton.
"It was always jumbled," says Derek Franciosi, a member of the team's production crew.
But next month, that ends when the school's $32 million Center for Virtual Learning opens. The team will move into the first arena built specifically for eSports in the state.
"We're not renovating an old theater, we're not renovating an old classroom," says Eaton. "This building was built from the ground up with this eSports arena in mind."
The space will allow for better broadcasting of team events, and the school plans to host competitions at the collegiate and high school level.
Around 50 seats directly inside the arena will bring spectators to Ferris eSports events for the first time. And along with the seats inside the arena, fans can also watch from outside the glass windows as well.
"When I played on stage as a player, the crowd was chanting, it was like super electric, right? I want to give that opportunity to the students as they play here as well," says Eaton.
The space has already helped with recruiting, drawing freshman Liam Joyner to the program.
"It was kind of a selling point for me," says Joyner.
Senior Autumn Peoples has been on the team since its early days.
"When I first joined a team, I was playing on a laptop with a PlayStation controller," says Peoples.
She's excited for the opportunities the arena provides both in and out of the eSports community.
"I'm a healthcare major, so this is, like, the only time I get to see people who have a similar interests as me," she says.
The ribbon cutting for the building itself and the arena inside is set for August 31st.