The worlds of gaming, sports and music came together for a LIT tournament when the Ultimate Gaming League (UGL) season launch party became the place to be in the Bay Area this past weekend. The UGL’s “Halftime Football Challenge” kick-off event drew acclaimed rappersMistah F.A.B. and IAMSU along with a beautiful crowd to Halftime Sports Bar in Downtown Oakland where Madden competitors faced off in a series of mini-tournaments, with a final win from pro-gamer Mark “Bam” Samuels.
Daryle “The Guru” Johnson (loved radio personality from 95.7 The Game) kept the tournaments moving and the crowd hyped on all the action while DJ Flygerian Jeff made sure the dancefloor stayed full for all the spectators. This launch party kicked-off UGL’s 3rd year of the Halftime Football Challenge video game tournament series, and their main competition (coming up on October 13th) boasts a cash prize of $2.5K and bragging rights for the best Madden player in the Bay Area! This intro event grabbed Oakland’s attention and brought Town Icon Mistah F.A.B. in on the action, setting the hip-hop-infused vibe that made one thing clear: UGL tournaments are miles ahead of the mainstream E-Sports world!
Thanks to the values of UGL’s co founders, these competitions truly represent what Oakland is about. Bay Area natives and black gamers Brad Flewellen and Chuck Johnson created the Ultimate Gaming League to foster diversity in the technology and gaming space. After Flewellen got his start helping local hip-hop and R&B artists showcase their music all over the Bay Area with his online music platform ZoN26, and Chuck Johnson worked on local production Soul Beat (as well as spearheading projects for Showtime, BET, and the NFL), they turned their attention to the exciting world of video game tournaments and figured out how to make them better for gamers of color. Their Ultimate Gaming League now takes the popular E-Sports experience and infuses it with a hip-hop twist, incorporating popping venues and celebrity hosts from the worlds of music and professional sports.
Click here for info / registration for UGL’s Halftime Football Challenge On October 13th