Chick-fil-A Bowl

Chick-fil-A Bowl
Chick-fil-A Bowl logo
Stadium	Georgia Dome
Location	Atlanta, Georgia
Previous stadiums	Grant Field (1968—1970) Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1971—1991)
Operated	1968–present
Conference tie-ins	at-large teams in the College Football Playoff (2015-present)
Previous conference tie-ins	SEC, ACC
Payout	US$3,967,500 (ACC) (As of 2011)[1] US$2,932,500 (SEC) (As of 2011)[1]
Sponsors
Chick-fil-A (1998–present)
Former names
Peach Bowl (1968–1997) Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (1998–2005)
2012 matchup
LSU vs. Clemson (Clemson 25-24)
2013 matchup
Texas A&M vs. Duke (Texas A&M 52-48)

The Chick-fil-A Bowl, previously the Peach Bowl, is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. The first three Peach Bowls were played at Grant Field on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta. Between 1971 and 1991, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium hosted the game. Since 1992, the Georgia Dome has played host. The proposed New Falcons Stadium is planned to begin hosting the game in 2017. Seven of the first ten meetings (all but the 1968, 1971, and 1974 games) pitted an Atlantic Coast Conference team against an at-large opponent. From 1993 until 2013, the game has matched a Southeastern Conference team against one from the ACC. In 2005, the bowl hosted its first-ever matchup of top 10 ranked teams.

The game was originally created as a fund-raiser by the Lions Clubs of Georgia in 1968, but after years of lackluster attendance and revenue, the game was taken over by the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

Chick-fil-A, based in nearby College Park, became the title sponsor of the event with the January 1998 game. Starting with the 2006 season, Chick-fil-A assumed complete naming rights to the game in a five year, $22 million, sponsorship deal, ending almost forty years of the Peach Bowl name. A new logo was unveiled April 6, 2006.

The funds from the deal were used to increase payouts for the participating teams. In response, the ACC gave the committee the first pick of its teams after the BCS since 2006--usually the loser of the ACC Championship Game or one of the division runners-up. The bowl currently has the fifth overall selection from the SEC (including the BCS). However, the BCS has taken two SEC schools in every season since 2006, leaving the Chick-Fil-A with the sixth pick from the conference--usually one of the division runners-up. As of 2013, the bowl was sold out for 17 straight years, the second-longest streak behind only the Rose Bowl.^[2] In 2007, the Chick-fil-A Bowl became the best-attended non-BCS bowl for the previous decade.

Starting with the 2014 season, the bowl will feature College Football Playoff matchups, with the 2016, 2019, 2022, and 2025 games hosting a national semifinal, with matchups in all years selected by the playoff selection committee.^[3] It has been reported that the new playoff system will require the game's name to be changed back to Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl for consistency with the other playoff bowls.^[4][5] However, one bowl official says that name is only one of many options under consideration.^[6] As of January 2014, the game is still called the Chick-fil-A Bowl on its official website and the playoff system website,^[7] though the playoff site also refers it as the Atlanta Bowl on some pages.^[8]

The 2007 game was played on December 31, 2007 featuring the second Chick-fil-A/Peach Bowl matchup between #15 Clemson and #21 Auburn. Clemson lost to Auburn 23—20 in the first ever Chick-fil-A or Peach Bowl to require overtime play.^[9][10] With a 5.09 share (4.92 million households), the 2007 game was the highest-rated ESPN-broadcast bowl game of the 2007-2008 season as well as the highest rated in the game's history.^[11] The rating was also higher than two New Year's Day bowls, the Cotton and the Gator.^[12] In October 2009, the bowl extended the Atlantic Coast Conference contract through 2013. According to Sports Illustrated, although the bowl generated $12.3 million in profit in 2007, only $5.9 million of that was paid out to the participating schools.^[13] On December 31, 2012 the bowl set new records for viewership. The New Year’s Eve telecast – a 25-24 Clemson victory over LSU – averaged 8,557,000 viewers (a 5.6 household coverage rating), making it ESPN's most-viewed non-BCS bowl ever.^[14][15]

Trivia

• Average margin of victory is 8.6 points in the last 20 years.
• Holds record for largest attendance in the history of the Georgia Dome: 75,406 in 2006 (Georgia vs. Virginia Tech).
• 16 straight sellouts (through 2012 Bowl).
• Highest-attended non-BCS bowl game.^[16]
• $110 million in cumulative payout.
• Two of the top six bowl game broadcast ratings in ESPN history.
• Average rating is 5.0 over the last three years (through 2006 Bowl).

Results

All rankings are taken from the AP Poll.

MVPs

Appearances

Conference records

Records are based on a team's conference at the time of the game (e.g. South Carolina is 0-1 as an SEC member and 0-1 as an ACC member).

See also

• Chick-fil-A Bowl broadcasters

References

External links

• Official Website of the Chick-fil-A Bowl