City of Arlington, TX and Infinite Esports & Entertainment have announced a partnership to bring a dedicated, state-of-the-art esports venue to the Dallas-Fort Worth Area. The Esports Stadium Arlington is due to open in the Fall of 2018, with the announcement claiming this would be the largest esports stadium in the United States at launch.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The City of Arlington is working with architecture firm Populous to create the 100,000 square-foot, 3,000 seat venue.[/perfectpullquote]

The venue itself looks to be a redesign of part of the Arlington Convention Center. The City of Arlington is investing a reported $10 million into the project, and is working with award-winning sports and entertainment architecture firm Populous to create the 100,000 square-foot, 3,000 seat venue.

The proposed agreement with Infinite’s Esports Venues, LLC includes an initial ten year lease on the property with an option to renew the agreement for an additional ten years. The stadium will be managed by Infinite-owned company NGAGE Esports.

Infinite Esports & Entertainment chair Neil Leibman—a co-owner of MLB franchise Texas Rangers—and founder and president Chris Chaney purchased a majority stake in OpTic Gaming in 2017. The team organization’s Overwatch League franchise, Houston Outlaws, was added as a separate subsidiary within the holding company. Infinite is also parent company to Team Allegiance, Triggerfish Partnerships, and several other esports startups—the company announced just today that it had also acquired esports team organization Obey Alliance.

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The Dallas metro area is on its way to becoming a significant esports-hub not just in Texas, but the U.S. as a whole. In addition to Infinite’s portfolio, the City of Arlington also is home to the Dallas Cowboys, who acquired a majority stake in CompLexity Gaming in Nov. 2017. On top of that, the Dallas Mavericks are one of 17 NBA teams who are participating in the NBA 2K League.