The physical venue is part of the House of Esports concept. House of Esports was established in response to the need among various stakeholders in the esports market to create broader support in the Netherlands for esports as a sport and as part of society.
Esports and gaming are an inseparable part of today's lifestyle: a combination of sport, culture and entertainment, encompassing sports, games, music, social media, fashion and going out. Esports has great potential, but it must be properly facilitated. There is a need for structure within the fragmented esports market.
Acceptance is the key to success. To be accepted, a number of prejudices and stigmas must be removed by providing evidence-based insight into the role esports plays in the lives of upcoming generations as part of their lifestyle.
The House of Esports Foundation aims to achieve this through 3 pillars:
- Esports as a sport.
- Esports as a social catalyst.
- Esports as a means for companies to reach their target audience.
This should bring out the social value that esports can offer. Based on this social value, the Foundation aims to facilitate and support the sport and raise it to a higher level. In doing so, the Foundation focuses on both elite and grassroots sports, as well as leisure activities.
House of Esports operates at the intersection of government, business, the community and esports stakeholders. House of Esports acts as a broker and connects parties by offering added value to every partner.
The municipality of Rotterdam has the ambition to put this new form of sport firmly on the map and wants to become the esports capital of the Netherlands. According to the municipality, it is important to guide young people. There are 7.1 million gamers in the Netherlands, 500,000 of whom participate in esports. Around 150 young people attended the opening. Alderman Sven van Langen performed the official opening ceremony.