Lakeland celebrates opening of new MidFlorida Credit Union Esports Center

Sara-Megan Walsh, Lakeland Ledger
·2 min read
Commissioner Stephanie Madden tries playing Rocket League on one of 20 computer setups purchased for the city's new esports center using the $74,900 donated by MidFlorida Credit Union.
Commissioner Stephanie Madden tries playing Rocket League on one of 20 computer setups purchased for the city's new esports center using the $74,900 donated by MidFlorida Credit Union.

Lakeland officials celebrated the launch of the city's latest technological cutting-edge recreational program.

The MidFlorida Credit Union eSports Center has been furbished and is now open to the public at the Coleman-Bush Building, 1104 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.

"This is the premiere eSports center in Polk County," Commissioner Guy LaLonde. Jr. said, noting he's had the privilege of watching the room be transformed over the past six months.

Lakeland commissioners had a chance to view the eSports Center Thursday afternoon and try their hand at eSports gaming. What started out as frustration as they tried to figure out how to move, transformed into cheers of camaraderie as several city staff worked together to score a goal on Rocket League, a video game in which vehicular robots play a competitive game of arcade-style soccer.

The city renovated a meeting room in the Coleman-Bush building into the "MidFlorida Credit Union eSports Center," as the Lakeland-based financial institution donated $74,900 to the project. The donated funds were used to purchase gaming equipment for 20 stations and programs for users.

One of the twenty gaming computer setups at the city's new MidFlorida Union Esports Center, located inside the Coleman-Bush building at 1104 Martin L. King Jr. Ave.
One of the twenty gaming computer setups at the city's new MidFlorida Union Esports Center, located inside the Coleman-Bush building at 1104 Martin L. King Jr. Ave.

The city's recreational program hosts a STEM class, focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in the space on Mondays to Fridays from 4 to 5 p.m. It's followed by an eSports program Monday to Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m. Those hours may be expanded in the near future.

"I think it's a wonderful opportunity for young people to not only play games but learn as they're playing as a by-product," Commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley said. "It's a win-win for everybody, and I love that MidFlorida is participating and partnering with the city."

Lakeland has also partnered with Florida Polytechnic University, Florida Southern College, Keiser University and Southeastern University to create a STEM focused atmosphere at the eSports Center. Each of these schools will have their logos displayed for helping the city through the process.

The students enrolled in the after-school esports programs will be encouraged to explore careers inspired by esports, including coding, data analytics, statistics and math.

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The city began experimenting with offering esports as part of its recreational offerings in 2021 with a series of Xbox consoles at Simpson Park, according to Mike Marotz, the city's recreation superintendent. Esports, for those not tech savvy, are multiplayer videogames played competitively for spectators to watch. Popular games include League of Legends, Dota 2 and Heroes of the Storm.

Esports have taken off in recent years, according to data compiled by Marotz. Roughly 58 million people watched the League of Legends championship matches compared with about 38 million viewers for MLB's World Series and 32 million viewers for the NBA Finals, according to a report from Goldman Sachs.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland's new Esports Center opens at Coleman-Bush building