Jeff Vinik isn’t ready to build a dedicated arena in Tampa for video games. But he doesn’t rule out the city “getting there” in a few years.
The billionaire owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who made a sizable investment in esports company Axiomatic Gaming in 2017, spoke to a capacity crowd of several hundred at the first esports summit at the University of South Florida’s MUMA College of Business on Wednesday.
“There is money. There are a bunch of arenas being built for $10 million or $20 million” including in Korea and domestically in Dallas and Philadelphia, Vinik said. “It remains to be seen for weekly matches how many people will come out, whether it’s 500 or 5,000. … It’s something we’re observing. I don’t feel the need to take the risk of building an exclusive esports arena right now, but we could get there.”
