TEMPE, Ariz. - The 2017 college football season may have ended, but Fiesta Bowl fever lives on for gaming fans.
On Saturday, Feb. 17, the country’s top four collegiate Overwatch teams gathered at the Tempe campus of Arizona State University for the first-ever Fiesta Bowl Overwatch Collegiate National Championship.
UC Berkley, UC Irvine, UC San Diego and the University of Toronto battled it out on the multiplayer, first-person shooting game for an eSports title.
“We have all of the things that make sports compelling. We have stories. We have rivalries,” said Adam Rosen, co-founder of collegiate eSports organization Tespa. “With eSports and Fiesta Bowl coming together, I think we’re able to create that in a brand new way that’s exciting for everyone.”
UC Berkley emerged victorious, winning the inaugural championship event.
The day’s festivities also included an exhibition match between Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.
That bout elicited the loudest cheers and boos from the crowd as ASU’s team trounced its rivals.
With the growing interest in eSports, there's a good chance this will not be the last national gaming championship at the Fiesta Bowl, according to Mike Nealy, Fiesta Bowl's executive director.
"It's a sport. This is competition," Nealy said. "These are very intelligent kids playing very highly competitive games."