Talladega College Esports Rocket League Team Wins Top Prize at HBCU Discover Bowl

Talladega College Esports Rocket League ended an exciting fall semester with a big win at the HBCU Esports Discover Bowl presented by Cxmmunity Media. The event was live-streamed via Twitch on December 17 and has garnered over 760,000 views to date. Talented students from 15 HBCUs entered the Discover Bowl for cash prizes and notoriety while competing in various games, like Rocket League, Valorant, Madden and more.

Competing against Morehouse’s Maroon Tiger Gaming Team, Talladega’s Rocket League team won its first top prize and took home the coveted $17,500 award. Rocket League is a popular sports-based video game developed by Psyonix where up to eight players play soccer, but use rocket-powered cars to move the ball. Winning involves team collaboration and outsmarting opponents.

However, Esports is not only about playing video games. It is more about the realization that your passions can take you places.

“Gaming can change the lives of people with a passion for pursuing them. Rocket League has allowed me to not only win a tournament with big sponsors and a cash prize, but more importantly, it has allowed me to pursue an education and better myself,” explained Rocket League member Devin Morgan. “I knew I was gonna pursue this opportunity when I heard about the chance to represent Talladega College in the game I love while also gaining a degree in the psychology field,” he said.

As one of the most popular intercollegiate academic programs at Talladega College, the Esports team was introduced in the fall of 2022 to increase recruitment and retention, and improve the student experience via an interdisciplinary Esports academic offering and a competitive program, according to Carlise Tucker, Esports director.

“We’re aiming to become the hub of Esports for the local area to provide opportunities for community members and build relationships with local high schools,” said Tucker.

The shared goals of Talladega College and pioneers in the effort to bring diversity to the gaming community, like Cxmmunity Media, has resulted in prosperous partnerships and ultimately led to the TC Rocket League’s recent win on the self-proclaimed largest culture and lifestyle program on Twitch–the HBCU Esports League. The competition was hosted by Cxmmunity Media; a Black-owned media tech company specializing in gaming, media and technology. With clients like XBOX, Microsoft, Riot Games, and others, the company’s mission seeks to provide students at underserved school districts and HBCUs opportunities to compete in Esports competitions and create pathways to careers in technology and media. Cxmmunity Media’s strategic partnership with Discover Financial Services entered its third year of building relationships with HBCUs and providing a platform for their students.

The HBCU Esports Discover Bowl 2023 not only featured students from the HBCU Esports League, including Talladega College competing for a $60,000 total prize pool, but a guest appearance by former NFL wide receiver, Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson, which added even more buzz around the competition.

“Winning a competition so big against the best competitors from other schools after putting so much work and effort into it feels incredibly fulfilling. I remember when the final game ended, and we were the champions of the Discover Bowl, we stood up and just yelled in excitement while being flooded with emotions. All the hard work, late hours, tears, joy, frustration, and effort finally paid off. Honestly, there’s no other college I would rather represent in a victory like this,” said Morgan.

The TC Esports team isn’t just looking to crush their competition, they also work in tandem with other members of the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) to advance the structure of the Esport genre at the intercollegiate varsity level. The collaboration seeks to build solid foundations for areas like eligibility, path to graduation, and competition and scholarships.