Jacksonville mayor Donna Deegan has officially signed off on funding for a new esports arena for the University of North Florida.
The University has already been given permission from the City Council as well as $3million in funding and the signing off from Deegan makes the project official and ready to go.
University of Florida building new esports arena
The newly named “Flight Deck” has been designed to enhance the esports experience for students at university, with the competitive scene beginning to boom in popularity across the country.
University of North Florida has the goal of reaching 25,000 students enrolled before 2028. While it is still around 10,000 students away from its goal, the university hopes a new esports arena will attract more to enrol.
Mayor Deegan doesn’t just see esports benefitting from the new university building though as she discussed the potential for billions in profit for Jacksonville.
“In terms of esports, you’re talking about billions of dollars that we could be attracting here to Jacksonville and that’s what we want to do,” Deegan said.
“When you’re helping to provide the eyeballs and you’ll have events that bring in people from all over the world to Jacksonville, that helps our local economy, that helps us bring money into our local economy.”
Experts believe that the esports industry could take off in the next five years, with some expecting growth of more than $6.3 billion as early as 2030.
Although building work may take slightly longer to get underway, the contracts are already in place and planning can begin for the new building.
What will the esports arena have inside?
See below for some of the amenities that the new Jacksonville esports arena will have.
- 42 computer gaming stations
- Built-in stage for competitions, live tournaments, and team play
- Broadcast studio space for live streaming of gaming
- Play zone for gaming consoles
- Connection to neighboring auditorium for gaming events
