Northstar Meetings Group has announced the launch of the first standalone show dedicated exclusively to the explosively growing field of live video gaming events, the eSportsTravel Summit.
Taking place on July 17-18, the eSportsTravel Summit will be held in the newly opened eSports Arena Las Vegas at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, a 30,000-square-foot, on-Strip venue built solely for esports events by MGM Resorts International.
The eSportsTravel Summit is presented by SportsTravel magazine, a publication owned by Northstar Meetings Group, which also owns Successful Meetings. The eSportsTravel Summit's co-creational sponsors include MGM Resorts International, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) and Allied Esports, which owns the Esports Arena.
"We are excited to partner with these organizations as they make history in the evolution and growth of esports," said Timothy Schneider, founder of the eSportsTravel Summit and chairman of the Sports Division of Northstar Travel Group, which publishes SportsTravel as well as organizing the annual TEAMS Conference & Expo. "Destinations, venues, and suppliers who want to gain a better understanding of how to profit from the growth of esports should make plans now to attend the eSportsTravel Summit in Las Vegas."
The educational sessions at the eSportsTravel Summit will include some of the leading tournament organizers in the esports world, as well as some of the biggest names in the industry. Multiple networking events will be built into the summit's schedule.
The eSportsTravel Summit was first launched last year as a co-located show at Northstar's TEAMS Conference & Expo, the leading show focused on the broader sports travel business. It's goal then and now is to fill what summit organizers call the "information vacuum" that exists between destinations and venues and the esports world, which has until recently been somewhat under the radar, despite its astounding growth rate. Along with sell-out crowds, the biggest esports tournaments attract millions of livestreaming viewers to the top tournaments.
"We pride ourselves on organizing events where real business gets done," said David Blansfield, executive vice-president and group publisher of Northstar Meetings Group. "Helping the travel industry understand and benefit from the phenomenal growth of esports is what the eSportsTravel Summit is all about."