Collegiate Gaming Community Comes Together for the UC Esports Holiday Invitational

2 weeks ago

After finals week had ended, over 200 college students joined in on the first-ever UC Esports Holiday Invitational. The 2020 UC Esports Holiday Invitational is a premiere multigame collegiate esports tournament that connected student-athletes and gaming communities across the nine universities in the UC system. Xfinity was the tournament’s title sponsor of the four-day event.

“As a longtime supporter of the gaming community, Xfinity is thrilled to partner with the University of California to hold this unprecedented virtual esports tournament at a time when unity and a sense of community are so needed for students,” said Mark Cruz, director of brand partnerships for Xfinity at Comcast. “Whether they’re streaming NASCAR, the Olympics or the NFL, or relying on a gamer-grade internet connection for esports, Xfinity brings fans closer to the passions they love by delivering the fastest speeds on the nation’s largest gig-speed network.”

Teams competed in Overwatch, League of Legends and Valorant for top prizes and to bring pride to their school. Those that won first place in each of the games were awarded $1,000 in prizing that was split between the teams and the cash prize will be deposited into the student’s bursar account.

Students got to hear from Jacob “Jake” Lyons and Andrew “ZP” Rush, who currently work together as Overwatch League casting partners and have great chemistry and industry recognition – making them a natural fit to serve as both panel and casting talent for the UC Esports Holiday Invitational.

To kick off the four-day tournament, Xfinity hosted a panel discussion featuring Jake, Andrew, Cathy Ge, UCLA Esports Director and Kathy Chiang, UCI Esports Director, for a conversation around the impact of the pandemic on esports at the professional collegiate levels in addition to how it will shape the future of the industry.

Jake and Andrew also casted and commentated on the Overwatch matches held on the last two days of the tournament.

Half of Xfinity’s sponsorship fee was donated to each of the participating UC gaming programs in addition to providing a competitive landscape for teams and individuals to showcase their hard work and talent.

The UC Esports Holiday Invitational streamed about 33 hours over the four days of the tournament, experience part of the tournament for yourself and find out who took the first-place home!

Preparing for PSPS Events

Many of us are looking forward to a return to some form of normalcy as we work to rebuild and recover from the public health crisis. Californians are clever, resilient and optimistic people and we will find joy in every season no matter what happens.

While this year will probably feel very different, one thing that will, unfortunately, remain consistent is the threat of wildfires. June 1 was the official start of fire season and at Comcast we are working tirelessly to ensure we continue to serve our customers.

Concurrent with fire season, in many parts of California, we anticipate planned power outages – called Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) – during this time, which runs from June through November. When gusty winds and dry conditions are forecasted, combined with a heightened fire risk, electricity providers pre-emptively turn off the power to protect the public.

Comcast’s Internet, TV and landline telephone services for homes and businesses require commercial power to operate. During a PSPS event, these Comcast services may stop functioning within hours after the commercial power is shut off. Mobile phone service may also be affected by a PSPS event.

Comcast understands this disruption to services is frustrating and has a major impact on people’s lives and businesses. The safety of our communities and employees is our utmost priority and Comcast takes care during PSPS events to ensure public safety.

Comcast also takes care during PSPS events to ensure we’re keeping our customers informed. We’ve sent a letter and an email to our customers with important information about how to keep informed during wildfire season.

You may also see public service announcements on your local news channel reminding you how these power outages may affect your services.

Here are a few things you can do now to be prepared:

Confirm your contact information at xfinity.com/myaccount—We will use this information to contact you if we expect a service disruption caused by a planned power outage. You can also use My Account to check if your service has been restored.
Comcast Business customers can check their My Account app or the Comcast Business Status Center to get information and valuable updates.
Download your favorite shows and movies for offline viewing—With the Xfinity Stream app, you can watch shows and movies offline in case you lose power.
Download the Xfinity Connect App to receive Xfinity Voice calls via your mobile phone—Xfinity Voice customers can make and receive calls with their Xfinity phone number using their mobile phone.
Visit the Comcast California Blog where we will post information, updates and answers to commonly asked questions. On the blog, we’ve launched a special PSPS web page where you can get additional information.
Follow us on Twitter — our handle is @ComcastCA and we regularly post valuable updates.

Even if power is off, Comcast’s team never stops working for you. From our family to yours, we hope you remain safe.

A Look Back at 2020: Our Year in Review

3 weeks ago

Photo caption (Left to Right): Chinese New Year Parade in January 2020, Lift Zones announcement at Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County, a Comcast technician examines an area after it had been burned from a wildfire, Comcast Leaders & Achievers scholarship winner, Black Joy Parade attendees in February 2020, Comcast’s accessibility leader joins a virtual LightHouse for the Blind event. Across the company and […]