A Game Of Chicken

An Inside Look At the Chick-fil-A Bowl

By Richard Cirminiello 

At a time when the signs of an economic downturn are on every street corner and newspaper front page, the Chick-fil-A Bowl is thriving by every possible measure. It wasn’t, however, always that way in Atlanta.

A quick history lesson reveals that the game’s predecessor, the Peach Bowl, was saddled with lagging interest, attendance, and revenues when control of the game shifted from the Lion’s Club of Atlanta to the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce in 1986. While not imminent, a turnaround was on the horizon. A little over a decade later, the reins of the bowl game were handed over to Gary Stokan, who has helped quarterback the event into a whole new stratosphere of prosperity.

Stokan was instrumental in brokering the original partnership with Chick-fil-A, a restaurant chain headquartered in Georgia, back in 1996. Two years ago, the company assumed complete naming rights in a five-year, $22 million agreement. Buh-bye, Peach Bowl. Hello, big stage. The influx in capital has been like a pebble in a pond, rippling throughout the sport and the entire community. In terms of scholarships and gift-giving, the Chick-fil-A Bowl will donate over $1.2 million this season alone, far more than any other bowl game. This year’s combined payout to Georgia Tech and LSU will exceed $6 million, eighth largest among the 34 bowl games. So much more than just a title sponsor, Chick-fil-A is a hands-on title partner that provides year-round ideas and leverage in a total team effort.

“We’re not a write-a-check marketer,” explained Steve Robinson, Chick-fil-A’s Chief Marketing Officer. “This has been a great fit for our brand, and we’ve grown together on a continuous journey of improvement. We meet every month with Gary and his staff to discuss bowl progress, planning, and execution. The college fan and alumni are in the sweet spot of our target audience, and the relationship with the bowl game has far exceeded our original expectations.”

The lean times now a part of the past, the Chick-fil-A Bowl is a portrait of health and possibilities. This year’s sellout at the Georgia Dome will be its 12^th in-a-row, the third longest streak in the country behind the Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl. Last year’s attendance of 74,413 nearly established a new game record, and was third highest among all bowl games for 2007. Just under five million households tuned in to watch Auburn beat Clemson in overtime, providing ESPN with its highest-rated bowl game of the year. The game matters in the region, and why not? The ACC and SEC basically form a Venn diagram with Atlanta perfectly situated in the intersection. It’s a natural fit in one of the premier hotbeds for college football in America.

“We feel like we already have a BCS-type game here in Atlanta,” said Stokan, the Chick-fil-A Bowl president. “Each year, we hand out three-page surveys to everyone affiliated with the game to see what we did poorly and what should be continued. If you stagnate, you die. If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. It’s that mindset and the relationships we’ve forged that have helped this game continuously evolve.”     

With the bowl game on solid footing, Stokan and his staff have turned their attention to extending the brand, making it relevant throughout the year. In August, the Chick-fil-A Bowl hosted the inaugural Chick-fil-A College Kickoff between Clemson and Alabama, an unmitigated success at the turnstiles, on the tube, and in the local community. The game drew a sell-out crowd, reached more than four million homes, and created a direct economic impact of more than $29 million to the region. Plus, the $2.1 million payout to each school was enough to make most December bowl games green with envy. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has the partners, non-game events, and formula to completely reinvent the concept of a kickoff game, which was popularized by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority a quarter-century ago. And with next year’s game already set between Virginia Tech and Alabama, the Kickoff is on the verge of turning this ACC/SEC challenge into an annual college football holiday wrapped around the Labor Day weekend.

“The SEC versus the ACC in Atlanta is an absolutely perfect match up in one of the nation’s best college football towns,” offered Lee Corso, who attended the inaugural game with ESPN GameDay in August. “Those folks up there are first-rate and they really created a carnival-like atmosphere. As a former coach, I would pay my way into this game because of how it allows you to showcase the program to recruits. It’ll wind up being one of the best things to happen to college football in years.”

On Christmas Day, CBS broadcast the Chick-fil-A Bowl Alma Mater at Reynolds Plantation, the second annual golf tournament pairing current or former NCAA head coaches with celebrity alums from the same school. The event, which took place in April, attracted such notables as Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Frank Beamer, and Rick Neuheisel, and is run with a typical charitable bent. It awarded $350,000 in scholarship winnings among the 13 universities represented, and chipped in another $115,000 to charity. Equally important, it was another piece of the puzzle for Atlanta, which has its sights on becoming the Sports Capital of the World. 

“The Chick-fil-A Alma Mater golf event was a first-class event,” said South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier. “Everyone seemed to really enjoy it. The hospitality shown, the hotel accommodations, and the food were all top-of-the-line. It was a first-class event all the way around. Since Sterling (Sharpe) and I won the event, it capped off a fun day of golf.”

If the BCS is ever in the market for an additional venue, its search should begin and end in Atlanta. From Stokan down, the folks at the Chick-fil-A Bowl have created the blueprint for how to run major sports events and stretch more equity from a brand in the 21^st century. While everyone searches for positive financial news, the Chick-fil-A Bowl is becoming a giant in the industry, annually driving more than $60 million of direct economic impact into the region with events that even the BCS bowls aren’t doing.

This is not your daddy’s Peach Bowl. Those days of a quaint little game at Fulton County Stadium have been permanently replaced by a sports machine, whose best days lie ahead of it.