So i've been thinking lately about starting up an e-sportsbar in Stockholm or possibly just approaching an already existing bar host sort of a theme-night with e-sports of all sorts (i'm thinking cs, HoN and ofcourse SC2) and i'm checking TL to see if there's actually demand for something like this.
If you have some thoughts on the matter or demands for it to be a success, feel free to share!
Poll: Would you go to an E-sports bar if there was one in Stockholm?
I would love to go to an E-Sportsbar! (967)
88%
I'd love to go to an Esportsbar, but i'm not 18. (61)
6%
I would go to an E-sportthemed night if its once a week. (42)
4%
E-sportsbar? I want to watch E-sports alone at home rather than at a bar. (27)
2%
1097 total votes
Your vote: Would you go to an E-sports bar if there was one in Stockholm?
(Vote): I would love to go to an E-Sportsbar! (Vote): I would go to an E-sportthemed night if its once a week. (Vote): E-sportsbar? I want to watch E-sports alone at home rather than at a bar. (Vote): I'd love to go to an Esportsbar, but i'm not 18.
Edit:
Will hopefully *fingers crossed* rent a bar for the MLG Columbus Semifinal + Finals on the MLG sunday and just thought i'd throw up another poll to see how many will come.
To keep this a bit more under control I ask you not to vote if you're not from sweden.
So for the swedes!
Poll: Do you want to come watch the MLG with likeminded people at a bar?
Yes (126)
94%
Maybe (5)
4%
No (3)
2%
134 total votes
Your vote: Do you want to come watch the MLG with likeminded people at a bar?
that sounds like a interesting idea, but i think once a week at most, unless it was also a cybercafe too? then atleast you will always have people hanging around and drinking.
That sounds like a really interesting concept. I don't live in sweden, but if there was a club near my place that specialized in that clientele I would definatly show up from time to time
I'm not entirely convinced that there is a large market for that kind of thing though. But then again there is probably a bigger market for that kind of thing in Stockholm then where I live in downtown Detroit XD
I would travel just to go to that The details of how to implement such things seem a bit tricky though ( for a pure e-sport bar), best of luck and hope you succeed!
I clicked wrong option i was gunna go for "I would love to go to an E-Sportsbar!" but went for "I'd love to go to an Esportsbar, but i'm not 18."
Would be awesome, if its possible it would be nice if u could watch GSL and maybe NASL there aswell, times would be far from optimal tho. Also show some online weekly leagues. Maybe invite the progamers currentley in Stockholm!
Huh Oh, this is really a great idea. I believe you will need to have a pcbang during the day and open the bar part at something like 7 or 8pm. this way you could have the people hanging at the pcbang take a drink and watch some matches.
I'm in Canada so it's irrelevant, but in a big enough city with enough gamers ( from what I read there is a ton in Stockholm ) this would be a good idea to try out if you could do it for cheap enough. I think you would need to have it serve as a PC bang during the days so people under 18 can get in and play and then after 9 PM 18 + and serve alcohol and broadcast matches.
I think its a great idea and it can be succesful, its a matter of where do you set it up to reach your target group. And of course you need to promote it so that you get some guests
I seriously doubt you can dedicate an entire bar to E-sports, not yet anyway. However, having theme-nights with e-sports would be awesome, and would definitely draw quite a crowd if decently advertised. I hope this idea becomes more than just an idea, seeing as I live in Stockholm. GL!
If there was one nearby me, in US, I'd go there all the time! Probably way more realistic in the esports countries in Europe like Netherlands/Sweden, though. A nerd can only dream....
If I ever visit Stockholm I will be sure to visit your E-sports bar if it is ever constructed, I really hope your idea works. Check out the Mana bar in Australia, its a similar concept that has worked out really well.
I've been thinking about the internetcafé side of things aswell, but computers take a lot of room, they heat up the room and it might be a serious firehazard to have a bunch of computers near intoxicated gamers. But its definetly worth thinking of a way around all that!
What I thought about was just having some sort of collaboration with Inferno Online and having a reduced prices for beer in return for a free hour of gaming at their place or something like that.
I'll probably start looking at bars for a themenight tomorrow and see if there's any barowners that might be interrested in something like this, I hope that there's a few openminded swedes left in the restaurant business!
On May 13 2011 03:15 Alejandrisha wrote: If there was one nearby me, in US, I'd go there all the time! Probably way more realistic in the esports countries in Europe like Netherlands/Sweden, though. A nerd can only dream....
where in the states do u live? i'm thinking of opening one in NY, seeing all the chit-chat going on about TSL3 final and after party, would be good to do. But it needs to have enough option to keep it interesting. besides, most of the clientele is -21 which is drinking age here so it' gets more complicated.
NIce initative! I think though that having a fulltime e-sportsbar might be too limiting in which people it would attract, but a theme night once a week would be awesome!
Lol.... I was literally just thinking that an esports bar would be an awesome idea..... shame i live in the UK.....
I have plans to open a Comic Book store with a LAN center inside, perhaps if that is successful I will be able to buy a pub to convert into an sports bar with an esports night.
On May 13 2011 03:37 Vinnesta wrote: Asking on an e-sports forum about opening an e-sports bar... This is the most unrepresentative survey one can conduct -.-"
If you do open it, pics please! Share some TL love to the real world =)
I know its not the best forum to ask this question, but I want to attract gamers and this is really the best place to do that.
it would be a good idea, but broadcasting what you show would be a tough choice since not many people play/watch a variety of games competitively. just look at things on youtube such as the gamestation (although this isnt its fundamental flaw..), the variety of games just doesnt really work. Machinima is pretty successful but its still found that its had to divide the channel up to keep viewers interested.
for example, one huge sc2 tournament is on, but on the same night a huge LoL tournament is on, unless you have a massive bar/multiple rooms then there may be conflict. but if this idea works it would be AWESOME
On May 13 2011 03:46 wakefield wrote: it would be a good idea, but broadcasting what you show would be a tough choice since not many people play/watch a variety of games competitively. just look at things on youtube such as the gamestation (although this isnt its fundamental flaw..), the variety of games just doesnt really work. Machinima is pretty successful but its still found that its had to divide the channel up to keep viewers interested.
for example, one huge sc2 tournament is on, but on the same night a huge LoL tournament is on, unless you have a massive bar/multiple rooms then there may be conflict. but if this idea works it would be AWESOME
That is a very valid point, need to think about that when I check out bars tomorrow!
On May 13 2011 03:46 wakefield wrote: it would be a good idea, but broadcasting what you show would be a tough choice since not many people play/watch a variety of games competitively. just look at things on youtube such as the gamestation (although this isnt its fundamental flaw..), the variety of games just doesnt really work. Machinima is pretty successful but its still found that its had to divide the channel up to keep viewers interested.
for example, one huge sc2 tournament is on, but on the same night a huge LoL tournament is on, unless you have a massive bar/multiple rooms then there may be conflict. but if this idea works it would be AWESOME
Well that's does not have to be a problem. In sport bars they usually have quite a few tv's on showing different sports and events.
Definately man, if you combine it with a good location and cheap booze, you will attract people who might not be as interested in E-sports as TLers. Perhaps they might develop an interest though? Like some note saying: Ask the bartender if you want to have the game explained to you! I guess not every1 in the staff would know of the game, but atleast you would!
Maby you could have just like 2, 4 or 6 computers, were people could test their skills against each other, like in a real bar you've got the pool table, the dart board and such. but it sounds like a really great idea and i would love to visit if you decide to launch
It could end in awesomeness or pure shit to be honest. I think making it into a gaming bar with esport events would be far more successful.
Having 8-bit pearl boards of things like Megaman, Mario and Zelda would definately look good on the walls. Add some arcades that people can play, invite bitpop bands to perform on stage and put some good wifi in there as well. You could also have an in-house high score list above the bar, let anyone who beats it get 3 free drinks or something. There's a lot of stuff that could be done that would be gaming related but also not label the bar as a place for massive geeks.
Then have live E-Sports shown during important events such as league finals and so on.
I honestly think that such an approach would be able to bring in a lot more people, not just those that are already *really* into games. I fear some people might mistake it for a gay bar when they look in through the window otherwise
But nevertheless, whatever you end up doing, I'll definately come and take a look if you get it going.
I think the biggest flaw in this idea is that a large % of the market you aim to hit, will not be able to buy alcohol. Your best bet is to ask a student bar in a university to setup nights where you can broadcast some games. Live if possible, or recorded. Getting it up on a big projector and stuff, and doing special drink promo's related to the game could work.
I'd go there, I'd rather go to an E-sports bar in Amsterdam that sold cannabis and allowed smoking along with alcohol though, someone should make one of those :D
On May 13 2011 03:43 emythrel wrote: Lol.... I was literally just thinking that an esports bar would be an awesome idea..... shame i live in the UK.....
I have plans to open a Comic Book store with a LAN center inside, perhaps if that is successful I will be able to buy a pub to convert into an sports bar with an esports night.
On May 13 2011 06:24 Wihl wrote: It could end in awesomeness or pure shit to be honest. I think making it into a gaming bar with esport events would be far more successful.
Having 8-bit pearl boards of things like Megaman, Mario and Zelda would definately look good on the walls. Add some arcades that people can play, invite bitpop bands to perform on stage and put some good wifi in there as well. You could also have an in-house high score list above the bar, let anyone who beats it get 3 free drinks or something. There's a lot of stuff that could be done that would be gaming related but also not label the bar as a place for massive geeks.
Then have live E-Sports shown during important events such as league finals and so on.
I honestly think that such an approach would be able to bring in a lot more people, not just those that are already *really* into games. I fear some people might mistake it for a gay bar when they look in through the window otherwise
But nevertheless, whatever you end up doing, I'll definately come and take a look if you get it going.
Some of these suggestions are pure gold to be honest and i'll consider them closely, only thing is it requires quite alot of cash to setup the place with an entire gaming design. If I do a "testing" with an e-sportnight and its a success i'll definitely look into getting some investors and try for a full-on gaming bar!
On May 13 2011 06:28 Chewits wrote: I think the biggest flaw in this idea is that a large % of the market you aim to hit, will not be able to buy alcohol. Your best bet is to ask a student bar in a university to setup nights where you can broadcast some games. Live if possible, or recorded. Getting it up on a big projector and stuff, and doing special drink promo's related to the game could work.
This was what held me back in the start aswell, but then I realised that i've been playing games for 14 years now and during 8 of those i've followed some sort of proscene without being even remotely pro and i'm fairly sure i'm the only one.
Of course the (soon to come) e-sport boom in Sweden has influenced me some aswell ;P
On May 13 2011 08:11 Phanekim wrote: arent' cybercafes that sellfoood and drink essentially the same thing?
No, a cybercafe is centered around playing and using computers, this would be centered around watching e-sports, drinking Beer and meeting likeminded people.
Get some licenses to show e-sports events as well. I think you definitely need the lan cafe element though, not sure just a bar+e-sports targets enough of a demographic to draw them out to drink on a regular basis.
Having an e-sports themed night at a local bar sounds like a good way to go about it and test the waters. If you wanted to set up an e-sports drinking lounge, I think it would be hard to pull off. Alcohol around a bunch of computers..
It's been mentioned before but the Mana Bar in Sydney has managed to pull off something like your idea - they are more of a drinking lounge with a whole bunch of consoles available to be played, games available to buy at the bar and video game events are often held there by game devs, chiptune performances etc. Definately shoot them an e-mail if you're interested in starting up something though, I think they'd have some good stuff to share.
On May 13 2011 18:02 echO [W] wrote: This is a pretty good idea, a lan-cafe + bar.
Get some licenses to show e-sports events as well. I think you definitely need the lan cafe element though, not sure just a bar+e-sports targets enough of a demographic to draw them out to drink on a regular basis.
This is what I'm worried about aswell which makes me consider the esport over an all-in e-sportbar at the moment.
I like the idea and i would visit if i would be in the city.
I have some reservations that i am sure you allready tought about.
- most sports bars are packed during the live games, being in CET I would say that is a problem. - only nasl has the quality to put on big screens - I dunno how you will be able to get all the licences from differnt content providers
Regards and best of luck with the project
edit:
some nice things you could do: Get some handsome nerd t-shirts, and other nerd wear and sell them at the bar. Give free (limited) wifi to consumers and give a key when they ask for it. (i dont think you want your bar to turn in to the download center of stockholm) Old school arcade stuff would do pretty well i would say (mortal kombat, street fighter, or in my case, sun set riders) Rent out lockers were people can put in computers (lets face it you are targetting the nerd crowd) Implement power outlets at each table. Put people in the bar that will understand nerd chat ;-)
You could do something like have it be a Lan cafe during the day and an e-sports bar in the evenings. You'd need a good way to reorganize shit every day though. Just remember the challenge is what makes it all worth while.
I would love this idea, but only once a week. That way most of the people who like esports will be conregating on that spot at that time, rather than spread out throughout the week.
Sounds like a great idea! Im just worried if its going to be viable economically? Ofcourse its going to be crouded for a TSL final but what about the other days?
I've dreamt of having a place like this to go to so I would be very interested!
Only problem is all the delays and crappy streams and stuff like that, wonder if e-sports is ready for this. Ofc, waiting for the stream to come back is easier if you have beer
If you do that, then my city of choice just became even more awesome! I was having the same idea for a long time but not really the time to make it real
While it's a swell idea, I can see a few problems that might arise.
Awkward times for tournaments (due to different timezones) considering you need special permits to stay open after certain hours (unless it's a private establishment).
Probably difficult to just ask O'Learys (or any other sportsbar for that matter)to ask if you can use their place for such a thing because tournaments might clash together with other sport events - thus you need your own local and that might cost quite a bit, rent, staff, electricity - everything adds up.
Technical issues from tournaments, again causing delays - making it more annoying with opening times.
There are a few things you need to consider and take into account, but if you're serious about this you probably all ready know that.
seems like a cool idea, would probably need to have it operate as a normal bar with esports nights/lan cafe as well or similar for it to be really viable. have been to kyoto lounge in manchester which is somewhat similar and has a real nice setup
I think the best bet, at least at a start, would be to do it in an existing student bar at one of the universities. You'd have about the right age and interest there to make it work a few days a week perhaps. Would be great to see a unique bar for it but I think there is a long way to go for that. Good luck though, we all might be surprised.
I didn't vote as there wasn't an option I felt summed up my feelings. I'd maybe attend an E_sportsbar once every so often in the atmosphere was nice, but it almost certainly wouldn't be on a weekly or even bi weekly timeframe. That and I couldn't get to Stockholm, lol.
On May 13 2011 18:49 Liquid`TLO wrote: If you do that, then my city of choice just became even more awesome! I was having the same idea for a long time but not really the time to make it real
go for it!!
Thanks for the support!
On May 13 2011 20:17 Liquid`Nazgul wrote: I would definitely fly in to Stockholm to do a bunch of things amongst which visit your bar.
Awesome!
And you who already is in the esportsbusiness, do you know what kind of permits one would need from say NASL, GSL etc to be able to air their shows in a public place?
On May 13 2011 20:25 ohGr wrote: While it's a swell idea, I can see a few problems that might arise.
Awkward times for tournaments (due to different timezones) considering you need special permits to stay open after certain hours (unless it's a private establishment).
Probably difficult to just ask O'Learys (or any other sportsbar for that matter)to ask if you can use their place for such a thing because tournaments might clash together with other sport events - thus you need your own local and that might cost quite a bit, rent, staff, electricity - everything adds up.
Technical issues from tournaments, again causing delays - making it more annoying with opening times.
There are a few things you need to consider and take into account, but if you're serious about this you probably all ready know that.
Asking o'learys is pretty much out of the question because hosting something like this would seriously hurt their stubbornminded regular clientele.
On May 14 2011 01:01 BLinD-RawR wrote: Will you also try to broadcast SPL,OSL and MSL or will it strictly be SC2?
Depends on the crowd really, i'm not sure there's a huge request for Proffesional Brood War in Sweden but if there's a final and people want to see it i'd defininetly consider it!
I also plan to air big Heroes of Newerth matches aswell as League of Legends and the occasional CS 1.6 Final.
Read about it a week or so ago on Rockpapershotgun, a unique idea indeed. I wonder how much money there actually is in a genuine cross between bar and internet cafe with a high-quality feel to it.
Most internet cafe's in Holland are populated with:
1) People that can't afford internet 2) People with hair to their knees
They are also almost always filled to the brim with a stench of weed. Not exactly the kind of place where i would like to be seen, let alone spend an entire night.
Read about it a week or so ago on Rockpapershotgun, a unique idea indeed. I wonder how much money there actually is in a genuine cross between bar and internet cafe with a high-quality feel to it.
Most internet cafe's in Holland are populated with:
1) People that can't afford internet 2) People with hair to their knees
They are also almost always filled to the brim with a stench of weed. Not exactly the kind of place where i would like to be seen, let alone spend an entire night.
Not sure, but I'm not too convinced about that concept, that just feels like a luxury pc cafe rather than sportsbar that airs the finest e-sports around.
The idea of having computers around is tempting but It's not what I'm looking at right now.
To be honest I probably wouldn't go. The people I go to bars with don't like eSports (probably haven't even heard of it) and I'm sure there are others with friends like me. Also, a lot of people following eSports aren't legally allowed to drink. I'm sure there will be bars like this in the future but maybe it's too narrow to make profit of it today.
It's a cool concept though so good luck if you choose to pursue the idea!
On May 14 2011 01:21 hifriend wrote: I'd check it out for sure. I love e-sports and alcohol.
If such a place existed, there's no way in hell I'd ever watch a MSL/OSL/GSL/TSL final at home by myself again.
Doing liveshows of Korean finals might be hard due to the difference in timezones, would you still go if the final was aired at the bar a few hours after it was played?
On May 14 2011 01:47 NorthernRiver wrote: To be honest I probably wouldn't go. The people I go to bars with don't like eSports (probably haven't even heard of it) and I'm sure there are others with friends like me. Also, a lot of people following eSports aren't legally allowed to drink. I'm sure there will be bars like this in the future but maybe it's too narrow to make profit of it today.
It's a cool concept though so good luck if you choose to pursue the idea!
I agree, brilliant idea, but from a business stand point it might be too hard to stay profitable.
On May 14 2011 01:21 hifriend wrote: I'd check it out for sure. I love e-sports and alcohol.
If such a place existed, there's no way in hell I'd ever watch a MSL/OSL/GSL/TSL final at home by myself again.
Doing liveshows of Korean finals might be hard due to the difference in timezones, would you still go if the final was aired at the bar a few hours after it was played?
Not sure, but I'm not too convinced about that concept, that just feels like a luxury pc cafe rather than sportsbar that airs the finest e-sports around.
the actual pcbang area is only a small part of that place, there's plenty of actual bar space to drink where they also have 360/ps3 and can show sports events etc
On May 14 2011 01:47 NorthernRiver wrote: To be honest I probably wouldn't go. The people I go to bars with don't like eSports (probably haven't even heard of it) and I'm sure there are others with friends like me. Also, a lot of people following eSports aren't legally allowed to drink. I'm sure there will be bars like this in the future but maybe it's too narrow to make profit of it today.
It's a cool concept though so good luck if you choose to pursue the idea!
I am sure most people passionate about esports would either have at least 1 friend interested in e-sports, or be able\willing to go to it alone to meet likeminded people. Going to a supposed e-sports bar would not be your average going out drinking experience I guess.
I definitely think there could be a market for something like this in the bigger cities. Though making it an all out e-sportsbar might be a bit too hopeful. But just starting more of a "regular" type bar, where people can come and have a drink and hang out, and giving it a gaming theme (not going as far as mana bar in my opinion) Just having like some Arcade Machines and some Gaming decorations but still making it somewhat of a regular bar. Then having a weekly esports night (Also adding specific events such as Finals etc.) Could also have various other 'themed'/'event' nights, running game tournaments (Thinking more silly\console game tournaments than E-sports tournaments though) etc.
This would accomplish a couple of things, first of all not going full gaming would not alienate the rest of the world. If you make it a fullblown esports bar/gaming bar a lot of people will not be that interested in going there, and even e-sports enthusiasts might be hesitant to bring their friends there. So you can both keep a somewhat "regular"clientelle and possibly convert some of them to esports fans through the esports nights, while still not relying 100% on the esports crowd to keep the place running. Secondly, without going too far in my generalizations, I am sure there are tons of "e-sports" enthusiasts, who do not go out to bars that much, but who would enjoy going to bars every now and then (even on non e-sports nights) if it was in an environment they knew and were comfortable in, and had people they knew and a lot of people whom with they shared the same interest of gaming\e-sports. And Although I have little experience with running a bar myself, I am under the impression that a lot of bars rely very heavily on the return customers who hang out at their favorite watering hole. I am sure if done right that a gaming bar could get a lot of veteran customers as there are a lot of gamers in most cities who are ripe for the picking in being your return customers.
I don't think the age thing is as big of a deal, tons of people above 18 (drinking age in sweden) are interested in e-sports, and you could always allow younger people in for events I guess, and have some sort of bracelet system for alcoholic drinks. That being said its not like younger people do not have fake ID's and/or borrow ID's =p
One of the bigger drawbacks as mentioned is the tournament times, GSL and TSL And other big tournaments are not that often run in prime bar time, so I am guessing either this needs to be fixed by the tournament organizers in a way that NASL Has done, or just having taping them and having recast of them yourself ( I am unsure of how hard it would be to be allowed to do that. For tournaments like TSL it would probably be a breeze for obvious reasons, no idea with GSL though.)
For questions about licensing I would atleast start out by just mailing the respective companies and tell them about your idea and ask what you would\would not be allowed to use. I know some companies (for example blizzard) are often very supportive of their community and do not mind people using their work as long as it is not done in the spirit of directly profiting from it.
In Australia, Brisbane has the mana bar. It's a bar with video game themed drinks, Consoles with fun games (nooby) and trivia nights with Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee.
It's not geared toward e-sports but thats because Australia is virtually an e-sports wasteland.
On May 14 2011 01:47 NorthernRiver wrote: To be honest I probably wouldn't go. The people I go to bars with don't like eSports (probably haven't even heard of it) and I'm sure there are others with friends like me. Also, a lot of people following eSports aren't legally allowed to drink. I'm sure there will be bars like this in the future but maybe it's too narrow to make profit of it today.
It's a cool concept though so good luck if you choose to pursue the idea!
I am sure most people passionate about esports would either have at least 1 friend interested in e-sports, or be able\willing to go to it alone to meet likeminded people. Going to a supposed e-sports bar would not be your average going out drinking experience I guess.
I definitely think there could be a market for something like this in the bigger cities. Though making it an all out e-sportsbar might be a bit too hopeful. But just starting more of a "regular" type bar, where people can come and have a drink and hang out, and giving it a gaming theme (not going as far as mana bar in my opinion) Just having like some Arcade Machines and some Gaming decorations but still making it somewhat of a regular bar. Then having a weekly esports night (Also adding specific events such as Finals etc.) Could also have various other 'themed'/'event' nights, running game tournaments (Thinking more silly\console game tournaments than E-sports tournaments though) etc.
This would accomplish a couple of things, first of all not going full gaming would not alienate the rest of the world. If you make it a fullblown esports bar/gaming bar a lot of people will not be that interested in going there, and even e-sports enthusiasts might be hesitant to bring their friends there. So you can both keep a somewhat "regular"clientelle and possibly convert some of them to esports fans through the esports nights, while still not relying 100% on the esports crowd to keep the place running. Secondly, without going too far in my generalizations, I am sure there are tons of "e-sports" enthusiasts, who do not go out to bars that much, but who would enjoy going to bars every now and then (even on non e-sports nights) if it was in an environment they knew and were comfortable in, and had people they knew and a lot of people whom with they shared the same interest of gaming\e-sports. And Although I have little experience with running a bar myself, I am under the impression that a lot of bars rely very heavily on the return customers who hang out at their favorite watering hole. I am sure if done right that a gaming bar could get a lot of veteran customers as there are a lot of gamers in most cities who are ripe for the picking in being your return customers.
I don't think the age thing is as big of a deal, tons of people above 18 (drinking age in sweden) are interested in e-sports, and you could always allow younger people in for events I guess, and have some sort of bracelet system for alcoholic drinks. That being said its not like younger people do not have fake ID's and/or borrow ID's =p
One of the bigger drawbacks as mentioned is the tournament times, GSL and TSL And other big tournaments are not that often run in prime bar time, so I am guessing either this needs to be fixed by the tournament organizers in a way that NASL Has done, or just having taping them and having recast of them yourself ( I am unsure of how hard it would be to be allowed to do that. For tournaments like TSL it would probably be a breeze for obvious reasons, no idea with GSL though.)
For questions about licensing I would atleast start out by just mailing the respective companies and tell them about your idea and ask what you would\would not be allowed to use. I know some companies (for example blizzard) are often very supportive of their community and do not mind people using their work as long as it is not done in the spirit of directly profiting from it.
Why are my posts always so long : (
This has pretty become my idea of the place because of all the reason you mentioned.
Now that the idea is in place and quite a few people are excited I need to check with nasl,gsl etc and also get some funding since I don't have the ~2 million SEK that it'll take to start this up.
I mean there's no real reason to have a poll for this, of course everyone on Teamliquid is going to say "Esports bar? HELL YAHHH OMG". You should ask the local young folks around Sweden. And I agree it shouldn't be all out esports all the time, diversify it and branch out.
You'd probably have to work with just rebroadcasts so everything would be during normal bar hours. And then you have to figure that lots of people interested in esports are just going to watch the events live anyway. Something like this can be done though, and Sweden seems like an appropriate place for it...
Even as a gamer I wouldn't go to this. If I go to bar it's usually to drink and meet people who are just as drunk and you can talk shit with each other and make new friends. I've never been a big fan of watching sports in a bar takes away the fun for me if everybody is just watching tv. Then again that's just me.
Not sure if it's been mentioned yet but there's a successful bar in Brisbane Australia, called Mana Bar (i think?) that while not E-sports orientated, it is a bar that caters to gamers, has lots of arcade machines and Xbox's etc. should have a look at some of the stuff they do, might help you with ideas. I think it's definitely a great plan, and i will be sure to visit the next time I'm in Sweden!
Had to register and de-lurk just to give my support for your idea. Living in Stockholm myself, being a solitary e-sports fan, this would be just swell! So long the booze isn't too expensive, and you can get something better than the standard pissy lagers if you want to.
Just a general thing, making a successful bar isn't only about what the bar stands for, but also what kind of people hang around there. Because there's casual gamers, who know what's going on the screen, and hardcore gamers who are gonna discuss the timings and mistakes made by the pro's etc. Which of the two are you going to cater to?
And something to always keep in mind with bars and disco's, is that either they're popular and you make lots of money, or they're not, and you make jack shit.
For these above reasons, the opening of the bar is what makes it, or what breaks it.
PS: But if you get one of these bars running good, everything will work out, you could open another one is another major city and build from the reputation you have from the first.
On May 14 2011 21:19 DamnTasty wrote: Just a general thing, making a successful bar isn't only about what the bar stands for, but also what kind of people hang around there. Because there's casual gamers, who know what's going on the screen, and hardcore gamers who are gonna discuss the timings and mistakes made by the pro's etc. Which of the two are you going to cater to?
I don't see how it's contradictory unless you wanted to write "casual gamers, who DON'T know"
there is this famous place in Stockholm called Inferno. isnt there a bar or something ? We got something similar here in Bratislava. Its basically PC bang + bar, but there is nothing really about gaming on the bar. But ye I would really love to drink some Steam packs in your bar GL
On May 14 2011 21:19 DamnTasty wrote: Just a general thing, making a successful bar isn't only about what the bar stands for, but also what kind of people hang around there. Because there's casual gamers, who know what's going on the screen, and hardcore gamers who are gonna discuss the timings and mistakes made by the pro's etc. Which of the two are you going to cater to?
I don't see how it's contradictory unless you wanted to write "casual gamers, who DON'T know"
In general there's three type of people: 1 People who know it's a videogame/ or not even that 2 People who know what's going on on the screen, for example he is attacking and knowing that marines hate banelings etc. 3 People who watch the screen and are like omg sick gozo polt timing attack.
I can imagine that if you cater too much to group 3, a lot of people out of group 2 are gonna be like, yeaaaah not really that into it, but its a nice idea for a bar, leaving you with solely group 3 in your bar. And if you want to get the thing running you need to try to persuade group 1 and 2 the most, as they are the majority of the people.
I don't think that any already existing bar would accept to do such thing unless you rent out the place for the duration of the event. And I don't think the market for opening up a bar yourself is big enough to justify such a big investment.
So meh, not gonna happen anytime soon.
But I'd definitely go, that's for sure. It's just not a realistic business venture imo.
It doesn't have to be a themed night... A lot of venues are happy to put football/formula 1/whatever on a big screen if this is what a group of customers wants. The best thing to do would be to talk to the management of a venue about a specific event and make sure it doesn't clash with any other sports event. As long as enough people show up, they'll be more than happy to do it again.
Oh, I live in Stockholm and I really want this so much... would be awesome to sit down and watch some GSL or MLG events while having both food and beer. Seeing there are so many "regular" sports bars around in a city of this size surely there's a market for an ESPORTS-bar. Although it should just be SC2, I don't care about HoN, LOL, ... >_> ... OK... I do like watching a bit of CS 1.6 <_< I'm not sure if it's been suggested before but go and do a live survey during like an event at IO that draws in e-sport-spectators and not just any gamer. I so hope you find a good place for this. Hehe I'm just way too excited about someone actually doing something I've only gone around and been wishing for
Awesome plan. My parents moved to Stockholm some time ago, so I can go to Sweden for free now. So if you open it, I will stop by.
Too bad beer is so expensive in Sweden or I would've had a bunch of friends who would've gladly joined me for some fun. Make a deal with the Belgo bar on (I think) Bryggargatan. Belgian beers go well with Esports.
Tbh, i dont think it would be successful at all and if i wanna go out it would be to a normal bar then an E-sportsbar and i think that is the case with alot others. The idea will fail but gl tho.
You can definitely have a sports bar around ESPORTS, but this shouldn't be your only defining factor. You want to attract a large demographic, which will also include your main focus of ESPORTS enthusiasts. This will allow you to stay in business.
Good food, good drinks, good atmosphere, good location, decent prices.
You also want publicity at every opportunity to let people know you exist.
Living in gothenburg soon, and have several friends in stockholm that I will visit quite often, would love to give your bar a shot:D Sounds like it could turn out quite awesome!
Imagine starcraft-themed bar with protoss-style interier, 3 different menus: fried hydralisks, zergling legs, drone snacks; normal terran food; some acid-blue protoss coctails etc. Hell, I hope one day they will open something like this in Korea or somewhere. I will live there.
On May 20 2011 00:40 cronican wrote: I am travelling europe for a year starting in september. If your bar exists I will visit stockholm for sure and pay a visit.
Cool cool, you should probably consider visiting anyways, seeing as it's quite an amazing city! (A bit biased of course, but I've been to a lot of the capital/bigger cities in Europe, and Stockholm is one of the best/coolest for sure!)
Oh of course, sweden is on my list of places I want to see. Though I have no idea what is there. I will certainly be doing a lot of research in the coming months.
On May 20 2011 00:17 Damian wrote: "We should totally open a bar!" :D
My thought exactly. While it may seem like a good idea at first. In reality, you'll need quite alot of customers for it to go around.
i'm aware of this and I really dont want to throw my money away, atleast not when we're talking about a couple of million SEK.
What i'll do is rent a place for the next major event (might be MLG Colombus semi-finals + finals) and put my money on it like that since that'll only cost me around 40 000 SEK if it totally FLOPS. It would be a great experience to have tried it out and see if its actually a valid business venture without throwing too much money away.
Honestly, it sounds like an amazing idea but you're gonna have a skewed poll if TL is your target group for voting.
I'd say make a successful bar, and start with just doing an E-sports night, on top of like a football, soccer, whatever night as well. You want customers first and foremost and then you can start doing creative things ^_^
On May 20 2011 01:27 Stropheum wrote: Honestly, it sounds like an amazing idea but you're gonna have a skewed poll if TL is your target group for voting.
I'd say make a successful bar, and start with just doing an E-sports night, on top of like a football, soccer, whatever night as well. You want customers first and foremost and then you can start doing creative things ^_^
Starting a successful bar isn't something you just start, if that was the case everyone would just open a bar, you kinda need a plan and a demographic to fit into that plan to even have a remote shot of being successful. Unless you have the best location possible but that'll cost far more than I'm willing to spend.
Marketing would probably be pretty easy since I believe most esports dedicated sites would be happy to give shoutouts. Even on GSL and TSL they shoutout people hosting meetups, so getting them to mention the bar and saying some good stuff about it probably wouldn't be too hard.
I think it sounds like an awesome idea, though of course it's not only "esports + bar = success", you would have to make sure to have a nice bar, good food, good drinks and so on. I absolutely think it could become a success if done right though!
If you have a gaming bar the style of those Japanese costume cafes with the bartenders and waitresses in cosplay, then you had a specific room in that bar dedicated to e-sports viewing and chilling - showing quake, CS and sc2 and DOTA/HON/LOL then I could see this working. Like others have said, you can't have E-sports viewing on TV as the main attraction or else you get too small of a clientele, but with a "gaming" themed bar you could work in the e-sports viewing pretty easily.
I don't live in Stockholm, but I'll move to Uppsala in about half a year, and if this ever gets going I have a feeling I'll be spending quite some money on train tickets.
On May 20 2011 02:11 t3tsubo wrote: If you have a gaming bar the style of those Japanese costume cafes with the bartenders and waitresses in cosplay, then you had a specific room in that bar dedicated to e-sports viewing and chilling - showing quake, CS and sc2 and DOTA/HON/LOL then I could see this working. Like others have said, you can't have E-sports viewing on TV as the main attraction or else you get too small of a clientele, but with a "gaming" themed bar you could work in the e-sports viewing pretty easily.
i'm really not sure that this would work in Sweden seeing as we dont have a single theme-restaurant as far as I know, the closest we got is TGIF. Doing something like that with zerglings and zealots all over the place would scare away loads of people, I wouldnt go to that bar even if I owned it.
Well I wouldn't exclusively make it Starcraft themed at all, I don't think you really want to decorate the place themed on any game at all. Make it a regular bar, and instead of sports paraphernalia on the walls, have autographed pictures of Day9, along with people from all ESPORTS, which sadly would include Halo (sorry I'm a PC guy), but we can't discriminate against our brothers
On May 20 2011 03:04 Body_Shield wrote: Well I wouldn't exclusively make it Starcraft themed at all, I don't think you really want to decorate the place themed on any game at all. Make it a regular bar, and instead of sports paraphernalia on the walls, have autographed pictures of Day9, along with people from all ESPORTS, which sadly would include Halo (sorry I'm a PC guy), but we can't discriminate against our brothers
Don't wanna rain on your parade but to be fair an esports themed bar would not work at all, I like the idea though but I would start with an esports themed night out. Like esports after work or similar.
If that works out maybe do something once a month, then increase frequency
I would love it love it love it. And some people would most likely come there even if they didn't even know about e-sports, so I don't see it as a too big of a commitment.
a full time esports bar would be quite amazing, and if you were to make one i don't think there's a better place in the western world to get one started than Sweden, possibly one of the major US cities or Germany.
I think this can be totally possible to do in the US. All you have to do is talk to a bar owner and see if you can rent it out and try it for the night and then if it works make a business out of it
Being from Sweden I think it's essential that SC2 is not the only esport shown at the bar. As you said in the title, HoN, CS and SC2 would be the big ones. Maybe throw in a bit of Quake live since these are currently the most popular games in Sweden currently. Im not 18 myself but I would be very interested to going to an Esports bar.
What games or events will be featured in the bar? -Besides sc2, will there be cs, quake? -Will MLG, WCG be featured? -how will you keep up with the various gaming scenes?
I think that this is a great idea. You would probably have a lot more regulars than other bars, since there really is no place for gamers to meet their peers.. Sure, LAN-events and pc-bangs are great, but they are really not that social.
I don't think the 18-year age limit will be a problem either. Myself, I would be really annoyed if there was a younger crowd, who would just scream way too much and ruin the mood. Amongs my friends and I, I think around 10 would want to visit about once a week if a good place like this existed in a location near the red metro line.
On May 20 2011 04:24 travis wrote: I would be wary about your poll numbers. How many of those voters are actually from around stockholm?
I actually pmed the mods to see if I could get the the numbers from sweden only, but apparantly its not that easy to get =(
On May 20 2011 05:48 archonOOid wrote: What games or events will be featured in the bar? -Besides sc2, will there be cs, quake? -Will MLG, WCG be featured? -how will you keep up with the various gaming scenes?
its been posted throughout the thread, but my intentions are showing HoN, SC2, WoW and a bit of CS. It all depends on what the crowd wants ofcourse.
As long as there's streams,vods or even Battle Reports i'll show them, I just need to contact the associated organizations to see if they have any problems with me showing them in a public area.
Keeping up with the HoN and SC2 scenes will be easy as i'm fairly up-to-date on those just by pure interest. Quake, CS, LoL and WoW if the customers ask for it i'll get updated and show them.
I dont intend on being the allknowing source of all sorts of gaming, but I do intend on getting bartenders who follow different genres of gaming so they can cover the areas where I have no interest.
This is still all in theory of course, i'm still faaaaaar from making this happen.
It would be awesome an E-Sports bar, nothing beats a regular sports bar as it is, sitting back on a saturday after noon with a burger and pint watching the football results come in.
The only thing is, you would have to stream alot of stuff onto projectors i guess as theres like no TV channels with any SC2 on as of yet, but awesome idea. Could have like streams around the bar from some of the Liquid streams :3
On May 20 2011 16:48 Pandemona wrote: It would be awesome an E-Sports bar, nothing beats a regular sports bar as it is, sitting back on a saturday after noon with a burger and pint watching the football results come in.
The only thing is, you would have to stream alot of stuff onto projectors i guess as theres like no TV channels with any SC2 on as of yet, but awesome idea. Could have like streams around the bar from some of the Liquid streams :3
Awesome
You can stream from a computer to a TV. No projector needed.
you know what you should do? Make this ESPORTS bar
1. ask every customer waht their favorite Multiplayer game is and make stats to use for broadcasting 2. PC bang during day is a good idea but also means bigger investments and makes the bar less appealing to general public. makes it too nerdy. 3. make it look like a cozy cumfy cafe. nothing flashy. 4. franchise it and branch alll over the world :D inclusing amsterdam pls I will make you rich with my beer purchasing
Have the bar with TV's showing replays of games etc, live streams what ever. Serve drinks have club nights whatever, but also keep some nights clean for Esports
You could also have a small cyber cafe attached in the back which could play host to tournaments of those not drunk
definitely should have an e-sports bar. with a resident e-sports team! it would probably be a pretty small place, not like O'Leary's or those typical sports bars with two floors etc. but maybe in the future? in that case, there could be a stage with booths for live matches.. but more importantly for the first venue you need to focus on good displays with seats positioned for optimal viewing. not some pale projector screens.
This would be really great! I live in Gävle but i would def take the train with some mates during the weekend to down some beers and watch some GSL or stuff like that!
The most important thing is to always have good content to stream, and alwas the newest. Def would not go bar/i-cafe. Focus on the bar aspect and dont alienate the general public i.e if I wanted to have a beer with some friends of mine ( specially girls) I wouldnt feel silly taking them there.
Nerd - haha why u socialies with ppl not liking u play epic sc2 ?! u so stupid, lol noob.
Me - Geez, be realistic man...
E-SPORTSBAR HWAITING!
Hope u feel my input is worth reading.
Peace! /Kruudos
P.S U should start a facebook-group about this and inv ppl that lives around Stockholm and the rest of Sweden. Could start by sending invites to the sweds on TL and then they will probably forward it to their friends.
Man, MLG would be golden! I'd be there with my mates for sure, at least one of the days. Though I'd suggest adding a *Please do not answer if you won't have an opportunity to come/do not live in Sweden* tag for specific events, might give a slightly less skeved poll.
On May 20 2011 02:11 t3tsubo wrote: If you have a gaming bar the style of those Japanese costume cafes with the bartenders and waitresses in cosplay, then you had a specific room in that bar dedicated to e-sports viewing and chilling - showing quake, CS and sc2 and DOTA/HON/LOL then I could see this working. Like others have said, you can't have E-sports viewing on TV as the main attraction or else you get too small of a clientele, but with a "gaming" themed bar you could work in the e-sports viewing pretty easily.
i'm really not sure that this would work in Sweden seeing as we dont have a single theme-restaurant as far as I know, the closest we got is TGIF. Doing something like that with zerglings and zealots all over the place would scare away loads of people, I wouldnt go to that bar even if I owned it.
no don't do sc2 theme for the main thing, do like JRPG sexy girls and WOW sexy girls kinda style
On May 21 2011 01:54 Superouman wrote: The problem with MLG is the fact it happens during late night in europe. I am looking forward to see the conclusion of this night
this is an issue yes, gonna pm jp to see if he has the times for the semi-finals/finals and see if it'll work out.
An other thing to consider is how much people would like to listen to commentaries in english instead of the native one. For example, in france, i doubt that a majority of people would like to listen english commentaries.
On May 21 2011 08:05 Superouman wrote: An other thing to consider is how much people would like to listen to commentaries in english instead of the native one. For example, in france, i doubt that a majority of people would like to listen english commentaries.
I'm not sure how many other swedes agree with me and no disrespect to all the probably really good Swedish casters, but man I can't stand listening to SC2 commentary in Swedish, and worse than that would be Swedish casters casting in broken English.
On May 21 2011 08:05 Superouman wrote: An other thing to consider is how much people would like to listen to commentaries in english instead of the native one. For example, in france, i doubt that a majority of people would like to listen english commentaries.
There's a big difference on that between Sweden and France, many people are if not fluent at least adequate in English, and we encounter it more frequently here than one does in France. For instance, we practically never dub anything here not aimed at children, something I know one often do in France. I guess you can sum it up to cultural differences.
So while it's a valid concern in many countries, Sweden isn't one of them, at least not with the crowd E-sports are drawing who already are acclimated with the English language and streams.
And, as Salle said above me, most people would probably prefer it to be in English as well. I know I would.
i think almost any of us would go regularly if there were any around us. it's too bad that there aren't enough gamers in america to make something like this feasible, but in areas heavily populated by gamers, it would definitely be a blast.
mlg is on way to late, wont find any bars open at that time. finals has started around 2am, every MLG, on a sunday. that's just not possible. go for dreamhack instead. a month left, finals will air daytime during summer-time, sounds a lot more reasonable.
a month should be a somewhat decent amount of time to get everything in order as well.
On May 21 2011 08:05 Superouman wrote: An other thing to consider is how much people would like to listen to commentaries in english instead of the native one. For example, in france, i doubt that a majority of people would like to listen english commentaries.
there are barely - if any - hardcore starcraft 2 fans in sweden, who would prefer swedish streams
On May 21 2011 08:05 Superouman wrote: An other thing to consider is how much people would like to listen to commentaries in english instead of the native one. For example, in france, i doubt that a majority of people would like to listen english commentaries.
there are barely - if any - hardcore starcraft 2 fans in sweden, who the swedish streams
I wasn't even aware there existed any Swedish strems. -.-'
Purely starcraft2 imo! the other games aren't nearly as fun, maybe to fill time if there's no interesting starcraft going on you can put CS 1.6 on since it's alright but I would advise against HoN. The game is alright to play but it's sooooo boring to watch.
and yeah only english commentating would probably be the best, swedish is a terrible language to use for starcraft casting.
On May 21 2011 15:53 Kentakky wrote: Dunno if I'm allowed to link to or something but here's some feedback from just a night of NASL in a bar in Seattle.
Purely starcraft2 imo! the other games aren't nearly as fun, maybe to fill time if there's no interesting starcraft going on you can put CS 1.6 on since it's alright but I would advise against HoN. The game is alright to play but it's sooooo boring to watch.
and yeah only english commentating would probably be the best, swedish is a terrible language to use for starcraft casting.
Thanks for the link, will definitely read after work today!
On May 21 2011 08:05 Superouman wrote: An other thing to consider is how much people would like to listen to commentaries in english instead of the native one. For example, in france, i doubt that a majority of people would like to listen english commentaries.
I'm not sure how many other swedes agree with me and no disrespect to all the probably really good Swedish casters, but man I can't stand listening to SC2 commentary in Swedish, and worse than that would be Swedish casters casting in broken English.
Same for me, i prefer a lot english casters over french ones.
On May 21 2011 15:53 Kentakky wrote: Dunno if I'm allowed to link to or something but here's some feedback from just a night of NASL in a bar in Seattle.
This is what a e-sport bar should aim to, showing daily events as tests with hopefully a decent amount of clients instead of showing finals. You can see on tl that there is a lot of gsl, tsl parties over the world so getting many clients for this should not be a big deal. The article shows that daily events are promising in quite big cities and Stockholm is a huge city in a country where esport is widely spread so it can't be worse than in seattle, with the adequate advertisement.
You always aim for the largest clientele so you want to name your bar "e-sports", not "Starcraft II". I don't know nothing about how big are communities in other games.
I love how much Sweden is representing E-sports.. An e sports bar would be fucking amazing.. Drinking with fellow gamers and nerds.. Only if something like this was happening in America.
So.. looks like I am moving to sweden =D. haha not really but i would def <3 to visit and crash in Dario's house =). Ill even take the little closet-sized room. =D
MLG Columbus won't happen sadly, the finals will be played at around 1-2 am Swedish time which doesn't really fit bar times/the customers. Sorry! Will try and sort something for DHS instead.
Well the finals are on Sunday as well. But how about a Friday or Saturday event thing? Not completely sure when they start though. I mean doesn't have to be finals.