From my perspective, I think there’s still a significant percentage of the world who know of esports and yet dismiss it as a fad and believe that it isn’t a very big deal. They think it’ll never be as big as traditional sports or that it shouldn’t even be called a “sport.” Semantic debate aside, they clearly aren’t aware of how fast the industry is catching up in terms of growth and revenue. As with most things, more money is almost synonymous with advancement and development.
In the US, Team Liquid has taken a new step in bridging the gap between it and traditional sports by building a professional training facility for its large roster of players. Typically, professional teams in NA were organizing player training through a gaming house model – this meant that players lived and practiced within the same building. After some time, TL’s management noticed the lack of separation between work and relaxation was having a negative impact on the players. As a result, they set about building a dedicated facility for their large roster as well as their trainers.
Situated in LA not too far from Amazon Studios, TL’s Alienware sponsored training facility is a large 8000 square foot building that will serve as the official training grounds to develop current and prospective talent. It features a dedicated video room to watch replays of their matches and study competition.
A room with top of the line computer equipment.
And even a dining area with an on-site chef.
The co-owners of aXiaomatic, the group that holds the controlling stake in Team Liquid, Ted Leonsis and Peter Guber are also owners of several traditional sports teams. They’ve brought some of the experience they had with managing these teams to developing Team Liquid and the idea for a training facility is just one of them.
With this kind of support backing one of NA’s largest e-sports organizations, you’ve got to be blind to not see that the future of esports is only going to be bigger and better.
Featured Image Source: Washington Post
