Albright College is building a new state-of-the-art collegiate esports facility at the corner of 13th and Richmond Streets, in the College Heights neighborhood of Reading, Pa., in collaboration with Nerd Street Gamers, the national esports infrastructure company, and CSL Esports, a Playfly Sports company.
The new esports venue will make professional grade gaming equipment available to community members — from casual gamers and those new to the esports scene, to high school teams and esports tournament organizers. MPG Impact Development will partner with Albright College to design and develop the property.
Nerd Street and CSL Esports are known for launching the largest collegiate esports league in North America — the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Starleague, of which Albright College’s esports team is a member.
“When paired with accessible facilities, collegiate esports programs create new opportunities for prospective students, enhance the school curriculum, and serve as a backbone to the surrounding communities,” said John Fazio, CEO of Nerd Street.
“We’re excited to continue our national rollout with our second partner school, Albright College, to develop a state of the art esports facility that will house their school’s team, provide advanced education opportunities to their students, and be a hub for innovation in the surrounding community.”
Totaling approximately 10,000 square feet, the Albright facility will contain technology, equipment and experiences for gamers and esports enthusiasts.
In addition to classrooms and private rooms for Albright College’s esports team, the new venue will serve as a fully functioning Nerd Street Localhost. Nerd Street Localhosts provide the highest quality gaming equipment and peripherals, including PCs, consoles, keyboards, headphones and more. The Albright College esports hub will also boast a stage for high intensity competitions and a production studio for content creation.
“We are thrilled about this partnership and the expanded athletic and academic opportunities that it brings to our students at Albright College,” said Albright President Jacquelyn S. Fetrow, Ph.D.
“Not only will it be a catalyst for our growing varsity esports team and our Gamers Guild student club, it will inspire synergies with our computer science department, enhance our game and simulation major, provide hands-on learning experiences for our Science Research Institute high school students and others interested in the esports industry. This will be a welcoming, exciting new venue for the surrounding community.”
CSL Esports Head of Business Development and Berks County native, Charles O’Donnell added, “with these investments, Albright College is firmly establishing itself as a preeminent esports program in the region. The meaningful implementation of the esports curriculum will help create a pipeline for students who are keen on making a career in the burgeoning esports industry and related fields.”
