At 8:00 am EST, on August 20, details for the 2020 OWL season were announced, including the schedule and the homestands for the Washington Justice. Below is all the information currently available about the homestands including their location, dates and when tickets are expected to go on sale.
2020 Schedule
The Venues
The Anthem
Capacity: 2,300-3,200 fully-seated
The Anthem is a concert venue just outside of downtown D.C. right on the District Wharf. It opened in 2017 with a performance from the Foo Fighters, indicating that this ought to be a venue with incredible acoustics, just right for an esports arena.
The layout of the Anthem is most similar to that of the Allen Event Center, in terms of what fans have been exposed to thus far with homestands. It has seating on the floor that stretches back to elevated seating that surrounds the stage on three sides. Below is the seating chart as a reference.
The ESA
Capacity: ~4,200 fully-seated
The Entertainment and Sports Arena (ESA) is an arena in Congress Heights, which is South of the Anthem and downtown D.C. It regularly plays host to Washington’s WNBA Franchise as well as the Washington Wizards’ G-League team. This arena opened in September of 2018, which means it should also be equipped to handle any and all of the technical needs for an esports event venue.
The layout is quite different than that of the Anthem because it typically is home to basketball teams. For the Justice, it seems that sections 112-114 could be blocked off to hold a stage and display monitors and the court would be used for floor seating. Otherwise, players could be positioned in the middle of the arena with seating all around, similar to the 2018 Overwatch World Cup. This, however, has not yet been confirmed.
Future Plans
Grant Paranjape, VP of Esports Business for the Washington Justice, released the following statement to The Game Haus concerning the permanent home for the Justice and if that would mean building their own venue:
“We don’t have any plans to build a stadium for the 2020 season as we have two incredible venues selected for our homestands. With how fast the esports landscape is evolving, however, nothing is ever out of the question for the future”
With these two incredible stadiums lined up for 2020, the rebuilding Washington Justice look to bring an exciting new esports franchise to one of America’s best markets. This will definitely be a team and a city to keep an eye on in the coming season.
Full details of the 2020 season schedule for all teams can be found here. For all of the other latest breaking 2020 OWL news and updates, be sure to stay tuned here at The Game Haus.
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