But conversions and remodeling pale in comparison with the planned Fusion Arena in Philadelphia, which will be the first space built specifically for e-sports.

The 3,500-seat, $50 million project will be the home for the Philadelphia Fusion, a two-year-old team that competes in the Overwatch League, a franchise in which players from all over the world battle in a futuristic first-person shooter. Groundbreaking for the arena, which is being developed by the Cordish Companies, is expected this summer for a planned opening in 2021.

Equipped with a production studio, a training center and three private suites lined with bars and fridges, the 60,000-square-foot development will sit in the middle of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which includes the Wells Fargo Center, where the Flyers and the 76ers play.

Not only will the arena project help e-sports cement its status in the mainstream, experts say, it’s also expected to unleash a wave of similar projects.

“Linking the arena to an existing sports complex will make people realize this is not just about video games being played by kids,” said Barry Seymour, the executive director of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, a regional advocacy group. “This is a real sport.”

The design of the Fusion Arena breaks with that of a typical stadium. Seats will be positioned to see massive overhead screens that display the matches, said Brian Mirakian, a senior principal with Populous, an architecture firm known for its football and baseball stadiums that designed the arena.