ELITE Gaming Arena offers venue for gaming, learning

SYRACUSE — Esports — the world of competitive video gaming — is not just here to stay. It has grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry that has spawned everything from competitive tournaments to college majors. For friends Rob O’Connor and Matt Guernsey, esports also provided an avenue to opening a business for fellow gamers that allowed them to put their respective backgrounds in events/marketing and IT/networking to good use. They opened ELITE Gaming Arena at 2 Clinton Square, in the lower level of the Atrium Building, this past April and are already off to a great start. “It’s a major worldwide industry now, and it’s not going anywhere,” O’Connor says. From entertainment to competition to education, gaming continues its climb, he says, so it just made sense to open a facility that brings gamers together. “We had this idea to start an esports facility where gamers could get together and compete and have fun,” says O’Connor. The facility encompasses about 16,000 square feet and features two competitive stages, spectator seating, a production studio, a podcast studio, a streaming studio, and a large competition pit with more than 40 gaming computers plus gaming consoles. “We’re very much building the company as we’re flying it,” O’Connor quips. The pair started out small in about 4,500 square feet at the Museum of Science and Technology as a proof of concept before opening ELITE Gaming Arena. It has already grown beyond just a place to get together and compete on a local level. The facility has already played host to some tournaments, including a 300-person tournament that brought in people from Albany, Rochester, Buffalo, and even as far as Boston and Philadelphia. O’Connor and Guernsey are talking to a promoter and working to bring in more events, including international competitions. They are working very closely with Visit Syracuse as well to help promote the region. “Every dollar we bring in for esports is a dollar Syracuse has never had before,” O’Connor says. ELITE’s facility is ideally situated to bring in visitors for esports events with three hotels, four parking garages, and more than 30 bars and restaurants within walking distance. ELITE Gaming Arena is about more than just gaming events, though. The facility can also host corporate and team-building events and offers camps for students. “Gaming is a great conduit to get in touch with the kids,” O’Connor says. This past summer, ELITE hosted students from the Syracuse City School District for a five-week summer camp where they got to learn more in depth about various elements of the gaming industry including computer programming, graphic design, storytelling, podcasting, and even Lego robotics. Esports — in schools from middle school to colleges that now offer teams and even degree programs — have had a huge impact on students that don’t participate in some of the more traditional school offerings like sports, O’Connor says. “Those kids don’t get the same benefits as traditional sports or other traditional school outlets,” he says. “We’re encouraging schools to start esports programs.” Studies have shown that 80 percent of the students that sign up for esports have never participated in a school activity before, he says. “Gamers want to game together,” O’Connor says. Now they can, at ELITE. ELITE Gaming Arena employs a mix of about 10 full-time and part-time employees and is also working to start an internship program. It is also working with area colleges that offer esports in some capacity including Herkimer County Community College, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Syracuse University, and Rochester Institute of Technology.