Unique Event At University Of Cincinnati For EA Sports College Football

The University of Cincinnati hosted an event this week called “Bearcats and Badges,” that blended esports, school pride, and community engagement. The friendly EA Sports College Football 26 video game tournament between students and campus safety officers was designed to both spotlight UC’s role in the game and to build stronger ties between students and law enforcement.

A New Way to Connect

The idea for the event initially grew out of earlier efforts to use shared activities as a bridge between students and police.

“I am part of the UC Police Division’s Community Engagement Unit and we’re always looking for new ways to connect with our students,” said Greg Valerius from the University of Cincinnati Public Safety Office. “[Marty Ludwig] pitched a friendly but competitive video game tournament between officers and students. I was instantly excited and bought into such a new and innovative idea to help further our community engagement goals. The Bearcats and Badges eBowl was born and it grew quickly into something that I am immensely proud of and excited to host.”

For Ludwig, who leads UC’s Trademark Licensing & Brand Engagement Office, the video game also presented an opportunity to showcase the university’s brand.

“The thinking is that this would be the first step in using the video game platform to connect with various members of the Cincinnati community to demonstrate our pride in representing UC and our football team by playing as the Bearcats in the video game,” Ludwig explained.

“This will also give us a platform to feature our brand with how well the campus is shown in the video game as a unique way to connect with young people to see the excitement and energy of our community.”

Campus Integration

The tournament took place at UC’s Esports Innovation Lab in the 1819 Innovation Hub, a state-of-the-art space that includes 40 high-end gaming computers, multiple consoles, and a thriving community.

“There was only one location that was ever under consideration,” said Valerius. “We are so fortunate to have our own Esports Innovation Lab on campus, located in the 1819 Innovation Hub, and they were obvious partners. The event would not be possible without the incredible people working in that group and how much they had to offer for the event.”

Diana Lara, from UC’s Office of Innovation, emphasized just how deeply gaming is embedded in campus life.

“The University of Cincinnati has about 10% of the student body engaged in Esports play, and we have a 5,000 sq ft lab that has 40 premium-end gaming computers, multiple consoles, and other games! Esports is part of the Office of Innovation at UC, located in the 1819 Innovation Hub, and also houses the UC Esports Innovation Lab.”

Promoting and Staging the Event

Promotion for the event drew on partnerships across campus. Ludwig noted that his office worked with Public Safety department to the tournament on social media, in addition to connecting with other campus stakeholders to help promote the event through their networks.

Lara added that UC Police handled much of the outreach, engaging students through social platforms, Esports gamers, and the UC Esports Club.

The event’s success has already sparked talk of making Bearcats and Badges a tradition.

“100%,” said Valerius when asked about hosting it annually. “We want our students to know we are here for them and we truly care about their safety. We want them to succeed. We want them to graduate and enjoy their experience while they are here. In order to show that, we need to host these events on a continuous basis.”

Lara agreed.

“As long as EA Sports produces collegiate game, we will continue to promote and play!”
There’s a financial benefit to Cincinnati in encouraging students, staff, alumni and fans to play the game. Reportedly, EA Sports will be paying schools based on how often players select their institution.

A document obtained by Yahoo states, “For each CFB product released by EA SPORTS, we (CLC Learfield) will provide a percentage for each institution based on the games played for that institution as a percentage of the total games played across all institutions.”

Looking to the Future

While UC doesn’t yet have metrics on how students and alumni are engaging with the new EA Sports game, Ludwig sees events like this tournament as a way to gauge and grow enthusiasm.

“We are taking a measured approach this year to conduct the event. We’ll learn from this experience to help explore other ways we may be able to expand this to include other members of the Cincinnati community. We may even try to expand this to include other colleagues (i.e. Big 12 Institutions) so we can use the game as a platform to engage with our respective constituents and promote our institutions through video game competitions.”

What began as an experiment in bridging communities may now become an annual tradition that combines gaming, school spirit, and student-police relationships in a unique way.