The NW Sports Hub in Centralia may soon be home to a new kind of tournament, if the facility can get the required equipment.
In this case, the necessary gear isn’t baseball bats and helmets, but a robust power grid and broadband internet.
The Lewis County Public Facilities District (LCPFD) — a commission formed in 2007 that led to the creation of the NW Sports Hub and sports complex in Centralia — is in talks with an esports company on the possibility of hosting esports tournaments in Centralia.
Esports are multiplayer video game competitions. Tournament entrants can range from amateurs to professional players or teams.
“They have identified this structure, probably from a tournament from somebody and came here and looked at the facility and were extremely impressed. We had one unfortunate problem. We have the space, we have the phases to get to where they want to go. … But the problem is in our power. We don’t have the adequate power right there,” said Dale Pullin, who operates the NW Sports Hub.
To host tournaments, the building would need to be able to support at least hundreds of computers streaming, uploading and downloading games all at once.
“They’re talking about the very first term that would be 250 to 500 people, and then it would go to 1,000 to 2,000 people and then it would be people from all over coming in for our esports tournament,” Pullin said.
He added he doesn’t know how popular esports are in the area, but that Centralia College does have a program for them. The main draw the board discussed for introducing these tournaments would be local revenue for hotels and eateries as folks came from across the country.
A bid from one contractor put the cost to gear up the facility at $24,000, said committee chairman Ron Averill. The LCPFD could potentially cover that cost if the board deemed it worthy, but Pullin said he’d seek more bids before taking any action forward.
The board voted to continue looking into the subject.
Averill added: “Call of Duty took up my grandson’s life for about five years.”
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