A New York-based company is opening the first of some 500 planned gaming arenas across the nation in a Houston area shopping center owned by Chattanooga's CBL Properties.
Belong Gaming Arenas is leasing more than 4,000 square feet in CBL's Pearland Town Center and has plans for venues in Nashville, Dallas, Chicago and Columbus, Ohio.
Stephen Lebovitz, CBL's chief executive, said Wednesday that Belong Gaming has "a pretty bold expansion plan."
"We're excited to have the first one in one of our properties," he said, adding that CBL is working with Belong Gaming on locations.
Martyn Gibbs, Belong Gaming's chief executive, said that with the pandemic waning, the time is right to start opening its locations, which will range from about 4,000 to 14,000 square feet in size.
"Things are opening up," he said. "It's a really good time. Gamers have sat at home. We're creating an environment for them to come together now."
Gibbs said that Belong Gaming, which already has 25 arenas in Great Britain, plans to put in about 500 in the United States within five years and four or five announced sites open this year.
The aim is to set up a connected framework for gaming at the local and amateur level where gamers and their families can watch, play, and compete across the most popular game titles.
Gibbs said esports has been dominated by the professional scene. Belong Gaming is creating an amateur system over time to feed the professional level, he said.
The company, part of esports and technology business Vindex, is collaborating with such ventures as PlayStation, OMEN by HP, ViewSonic, and Mavix to equip its centers.
Lebovitz said CBL's leasing team is looking for new uses in its centers, which number more than 100 nationwide, including Hamilton Place and Northgate malls in Chattanooga.
"Esports is a category which has become more popular," he said. "We're talking about multiple properties."
Gaming is a part of CBL's focus on offering entertainment in its malls and shopping centers, Lebovitz said.
"Esports appeals to a younger demographic," he said. "That's a group we want to continue to bring into our shopping centers. It meets a lot of goals."
CBL's chief executive said esports is "really popular" and expected to keep growing over time.
"It's competitive but also recreational," he said. "I think they'll continue to broaden their audience. They'll work with us to do larger events."
Gibbs said there will be tournaments in which one physical location plays another.
The arenas offer a full membership system such as belonging to a gym, he said. But there's a roster of services which the arenas provide including retail sales of equipment, Gibbs said.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.