Georgia High School Debuts 500-Seat Esports Arena

Cass High School in Bartow County, Ga., recently announced the opening of a new, 7,000-square-foot Esports Arena, according to a news release. The Bartow County School System partnered with Extron AV Technology on the project, which features higher-powered gaming computers; a professionally lit arena; seating for 500 spectators; and AV features including a 220-inch LED video wall and 56,000 watts of sound.

The arena will serve as competition grounds for Georgia High School Association- and PlayVS-sanctioned events. It will also provide a space for students to learn about game development, sports announcing, sound design, theatrical lighting, and more.

“The Extron team went above and beyond to ensure the success of the project,” said Dalton Jones, Director of Esports at PowerUpEDU, which handled the education technology elements of the project. “Extron’s extensive experience outfitting esports venues with effective AV systems smoothed the way for our project. NAV Pro AV over IP is working well in the Bartow County esports arena, providing reliable AV distribution and switching.”

Technology elements include a NAV Pro AV over IP network that distributes 4K video over 1 Gbps Ethernet with near-zero latency and no loss in visual quality, the news release reports. Other technological features include PCs and tracking PTZ cameras that feed content into the network through NAV E 121 compact encoders. NAV SD 101 scaling decoders send the footage from the AV over IP network to multiple displays, including the video wall and a streaming media processor that broadcasts it to the district’s YouTube channel. The audio system features a DMP 128 Plus audio DPS processor, and the whole system is controlled by touch-panels with custom user interfaces, according to the news release.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • California High School Starts Construction on STEAM, Music Buildings

    Tamalpais High School, part of the Tamalpais Union High School District, recently broke ground on two new major facilities for its campus in Mill Valley, Calif., according to a news release. The district is partnering with Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA) and Lathrop Construction Associates for the Science Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) and Music Buildings, both replacing their outdated counterparts.

  • How One School Reimagined Learning Spaces—and What Others Can Learn

    When Collegedale Academy, a PreK–8 school outside Chattanooga, Tenn., needed a new elementary building, we faced the choice that many school leaders eventually confront: repair an aging facility or reimagine what learning spaces could be. Our historic elementary school held decades of memories for families, including some who had once walked its halls as children themselves. But years of wear and the need for costly repairs made it clear that investing in the old building would only patch the problems rather than solve them.

  • Texas K–12 District to Build New Elementary, High Schools

    The High Island Independent School District on the Bolivar Peninsula in Southeast Texas recently announced that construction on a new elementary school and a new high school will begin in January 2026, according to local news. Funding will come from a $27.9-million bond passed in May 2025.

  • New eBook Shares Guidelines on Building CTE Centers

    Career and Technical Education (CTE) curriculum and resources provider iCEV recently announced the publication of a new eBook sharing guidance and insights on building new CTE facilities, according to a news release.

Digital Edition