Major esports tournaments now pack stadiums with 15,000+ people screaming over video games. Prize pools hit $40 million. Players fly in from Korea, Sweden, China, the US, Philippines.
These venues need serious infrastructure—giant screens for visibility, sound systems handling crowd noise and game audio, space for production crews broadcasting to millions online. Every detail matters at this scale.
Money follows the audience. Sponsors drop millions on tournaments. Streaming platforms compete for broadcast rights. Betting markets opened up too—fans wager on matches through licensed platforms where it's legal. The conversation around the best sports betting in Texas keeps heating up because the state has nearly 30 million people, and sports culture runs deep there. That's massive market potential. Betting interest gives casual fans another reason to watch, which helps pack these venues.
Singapore Indoor Stadium
The Singapore Indoor Stadium contains 12,000. One of the largest events of Dota 2 of the year occurred here, the International 11. Live viewing is better than streaming. The screens are massive, the reactions of players can be really observed, and as one of the teams takes off an unbelievable play, the entire building trembles. Singapore's location works perfectly. Millions of esports fans are located in Southeast Asia, and they do not have to travel long distances to reach it.
Mercedes-Benz Arena Shanghai
In Shanghai, League of Legends translates to 18,000 people in the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Tickets go fast. Its venue is adjusted to the tournament, with around 10,000 seats. The esports industry in China is truly enormous, and Shanghai is at the very heart of it.
A very large portion of that growth is facilitated by China. Last year, Esports generated $2.13 billion in the global market, and it is projected to rise to $7.46 billion in the coming 2030. The fact that Shanghai managed to sell 18,000-seat arenas indicates why Asia-Pacific leads the revenue list-people buying tickets, companies making sponsorship deals, platforms buying airing rights.
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Arthur Ashe Stadium hosts tennis. Usually. In 2019, Epic Games bought the entire process in the case of the Fortnite World Cup. All seats were sold out, and 23,000 spectators watched the teenagers play Fortnite for millions of dollars. The venue wasn't built for this. Organizers had to improvise screen placement, figure out audio, and adjust everything. But when you can draw that kind of crowd, you figure it out.
Barclays Center Brooklyn
The Barclays Center has been heavily utilized in Overwatch League and Counter-Strike. Brooklyn downtown, 19,000 seats, accessible by the subway. The venue has a fussy job to juggle the live crowd, and on the other hand, feed the online viewers clean broadcasting. Most arenas struggle with one or the other. Barclays manages both.
Over 640 million people worldwide will be watching esports by the end of this year. More than half are on mobile devices. Those numbers explain why investors keep dumping money into competitive gaming.
Esports Stadium Arlington
Arlington, Texas did something different. They built a venue specifically for esports. Just 2,500 seats, but every single thing was designed for competitive gaming from the start. Lighting optimized for broadcasts and live viewing. Screens positioned where everyone gets clear sightlines. Seating is angled toward the stage. Astralis won multiple CS:GO titles here, took home hundreds of thousands in prize money. Purpose-built beats are adapted every time.
Mall of Asia Arena Manila
Mall of Asia Arena seats 15,000, and Philippine crowds absolutely erupt for Dota 2. The Manila Major made this place famous in esports. Filipino fans don't mess around—they show up loud for any major tournament. Plus, the arena is inside a huge shopping mall, which helps during three or four-day events when people need food and places to kill time between matches.