Hawks Talon Gaming, the NBA 2K League franchise owned by the Atlanta Hawks NBA team, has opened a dedicated facility inside the State Farm Arena.
Known as its ‘Gaming House’, the 4172 square-foot facility will be used for practice and Hawks’ upcoming season of the NBA 2K League.
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The facility will feature six PlayStation 5 consoles as part of six dedicated gaming stations featuring state-of-the-art equipment such as chairs from gaming chair manufacturer Raynor.
Janice Koon, Vice President of G League and 2K Operations at Hawks Talon GC, spoke on the creation of the facility in a release: “We are thrilled to continue investing in Hawks Talon by creating this new space for them inside of State Farm Arena. We are grateful for the collaboration between our creative team and building operations team who worked diligently to get the Gaming House completed in time for the upcoming season.”
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The 2021 NBA 2K League season is set to begin on May 19th, with each of its 23 franchises playing a total of 28 matches during the regular season. For the first time, the league has been split into two conferences, with the top five teams from each qualifying for the playoffs where over $1m (∼£718,075) in prize money will be up for grabs.
Wesley Acuff, Hawks Talon Team Manager and Head Coach, also commented: “We couldn’t have asked for a better space for our team this year. While we do our competitions on the virtual court with the best of the best, it is important we put ourselves in a place that optimises our performance for both practices and remote competition.”
Esports Insider says: The concept of esports organisations creating dedicated facilities for practice and competition isn’t new within the industry but the benefits of having a space for teams and players to perfect their craft could make all the difference during online esports events.
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