Startups

The Washington Justice have a DC esports facility to call home in 2021

The Penn Quarter facility will offer space for the Overwatch team, and fans. It shows an evolution for esports.

A rendering of the Washington Justice esports facility in Penn Quarter. (Courtesy photo)

When the Washington Justice start a new season next month, the esports team will be opening Overwatch League play in a new facility.

The Justice this month are opening a home in D.C.’s Penn Quarter. Located at 415 8th St. NW, the 4,200-square-foot facility will house practices and competitions for the nine-player team and five staff members. It’s also designed to be a space for fans, with events and a retail shop with team gear.

“Going into this season we’re very excited to be able to call this new facility home for the foreseeable future,” said Grant Paranjape, the Washington Justice VP of esports business.

It shows the local esports team staking out its own home turf in the District. With the debut after D.C. entrepreneur Mark Ein bought the team in 2019, the Justice played in L.A., where the entire league played at Blizzard Studios. Next year brought more local presence, as the team partnered with Events DC to hold a homestand series at The Anthem that drew hundreds, and was based out of Rosslyn in a space that was designed to be temporary.

With the new venue, players will also live at the same site, as adjacent housing for the team at Lansburgh Corporate Apartment is connected to the new space. It’s only an elevator ride to the facility. The living situation also shows an evolution for the sport: Players used to be separate, then many teams previously lived together in houses. Now they have separate spaces for living and esports, as well as individual apartments.

The Justice is also thinking about the fans, which will be allowed into the space in accordance with lifting of COVID restrictions maintained by the District. It’ll be a chance to have a communal space around a sport that can take place online.

“You may be sitting online but you’re doing it together. In these times where we’ve been forced to be separated, esports have given people a good outlet,” Paranjape said.

In that sense the team is also thinking like the franchises of other sports: It’ll have events for fans, and having a store can allow fans to pick up a jersey of their favorite player, and represent the team beyond the walls of the facility.

“We’re excited to be able to welcome fans back in person and do it in a safe and responsible way while bringing activity downtown to the Penn Quarter area while also giving our players an incredible experience,” Paranjape said.

The Justice season kicks off on April 16. Here’s a couple more renderings of the space:

A rendering of the new Washington Justice facility. (Courtesy photo)

A rendering of The Washington Justice facility in Penn Quarter.

A rendering of The Washington Justice facility in Penn Quarter. (Courtesy photo)

 

 

 

 

Companies: Washington Justice

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

The person charged in the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting had a ton of tech connections

From rejection to innovation: How I built a tool to beat AI hiring algorithms at their own game

Where are the country’s most vibrant tech and startup communities?

The looming TikTok ban doesn’t strike financial fear into the hearts of creators — it’s community they’re worried about

Technically Media