$500M esports and entertainment complex to be built on Exhibition Place grounds

The Exhibition Place grounds are set to transform with new entertainment complex.

OverActive Media has announced plans to build a 7,000-seat esports and entertainment complex. The near $500 million project is scheduled to be completed in 2025 and includes a theatre-style entertainment venue and hotel complex.

The facility also plans to host 200+ events a year, including city-wide conventions, corporate events, product launches, awards shows, and a full slate of esports events increasing over time.

It will be located at the Exhibition Place grounds, on the north side of Lakeshore Blvd across from the Ontario Place lands. The project will be privately financed and have a purpose-built venue.

OverActive Media

“Today is another important step in the evolution of OverActive Media,” said Chris Overholt, OverActive’s President and CEO. “We are building a world leading, 21st century sports media and entertainment company and this best-in-class performance venue will be the chosen home for a new generation of fans that think differently about their entertainment choices and experiences.”

According to the press release, the theatre was designed by the design firm Populous, with the goal of a “modern expression of a new age theatre for sports and entertainment.”

OverActive Media

“The design of the theatre was neither conceived as a sports arena nor an opera house, rather, a new typology that straddles the two – a state-of-the-art performance venue. The theatre architecture creates a merger of the old and the new,” said Jonathan Mallie, Senior Principal and lead designer for Populous. “In combination, a symbiotic balance delivers a one-of-a-kind theatre architecture, unique to Toronto and the world.”

OverActive Media

This project will be the first new sports or entertainment venue built in Toronto since BMO Field in 2007.

“Our vision on this project from day one has been to combine a premium concert and live events program with world leading technology and best in class hospitality,” Overholt added. “We will create an unparalleled experience for our fans while being a low net cost producer to our entertainment partners and artists. A landmark experience and venue for a world class city that defines a new future.”

OverActive Media is the owner of four major global Esport franchises, including Toronto’s two professional teams (Toronto Ultra of the Call of Duty League and Toronto Defiant of the Overwatch League).