Peach Bowl, Inc. continues to be a leader in the college football bowl industry as it moves into the new era of college football with the 12-team College Football Playoff expansion this season. 

“We were fortunate to have another very strong year across the board welcoming Aflac as a new title sponsor for our annual Kickoff Game that saw yet another sellout, Southern Company becoming the title sponsor of our Peach Bowl Challenge, and then capping off the season by selling out our Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl for the 24th time in 27 years,” said Gary Stokan, Peach Bowl, Inc. CEO and president. “Atlanta is shaping up to have another historic run as the ‘Capital of College Football’ this season when we open with a high-profile matchup between preseason consensus No. 15 Clemson and No. 1 Georgia in the Aflac Kickoff Game, followed by the SEC Championship, the first-ever College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and then Atlanta’s hosting of the CFP National Championship.” 

The 2023-24 bowl season saw traditionally strong results for economic impact, attendance, viewership, and charitable giving. 

“We’ve built a lot of momentum these last few seasons that we look forward to carrying into the new era of the sport as we help usher in the 12-team College Football Playoff,” said Bob Schuler, Peach Bowl, Inc. chairman. “But most importantly, we’ve held true to our commitment to give back to our community, once again upholding our reputation as college football’s most charitable bowl organization.” 

HIGHEST ECONOMIC IMPACT FOR NON-SEMIFINAL GAME IN BOWL’S HISTORY:

The 2023 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl – No. 11 Ole Miss vs. No. 10 Penn State – provided $49.77 million in economic impact and $3.77 million in direct tax revenue, representing the largest economic impact in the Bowl’s history during a non-Semifinal year and the fourth-highest total overall.

The 2023 Aflac Kickoff Game and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl combined to deliver an estimated $63.77 million in economic impact, and $5.07 million in direct state and local tax revenue according to an analysis done by Dr. Bruce Seaman of the Georgia State University Department of Economics. 

College football games hosted by Peach Bowl, Inc. have now driven $1.45 billion in total economic impact, and $91.05 million in combined direct state and local tax revenue since 2002.

2023 Season and Cumulative Impact by the Numbers: Metro Atlanta

Note: Direct (not linked to multiplier effects) tax revenues include those from local hotel-motel taxes and state per night fees (recently expanded to include B&Bs); state and local sales taxes (with local tax rates varying based on jurisdiction), and transportation taxes linked to airport fees and car rental taxes.  Some events will qualify for exemption from sales taxes on ticket purchases.

THIRD-HIGHEST ATTENDED BOWL GAME OF 2023 SEASON:

This past year’s sold-out Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl drew 71,230 fans to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, making it the third-highest attended bowl game of the 2023 bowl season, trailing only the CFP Semifinal at the Rose Bowl and CFP National Championship Game. It represented the 24th sellout in the last 27 games for the Bowl, and also marked the second-highest attendance for the event in a non-Semifinal year since joining the New Year’s Six in 2014.

A combined 107,331 fans attended last season’s Aflac Kickoff Game and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, representing the 15th time in the last 16 years where Peach Bowl, Inc. events have drawn more than 100,000 fans to Atlanta.

A total of 3.3 million fans have now attended the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in its 56-year history, while 1.3 million fans have gone to Aflac Kickoff Games since their creation in 2008 

TOP-25 MOST-WATCHED COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME OF THE SEASON:

A combined total of 9.4 million viewers tuned in to watch the Aflac Kickoff Game (1.6 million) on Labor Day weekend and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (7.8 million) on Dec. 30.

With 7.8 million viewers on ESPN, the 2023 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl became one of the top-25 most watched games of the 2023 college football season and was also the third most-streamed college football game ever on ESPN+.

More than 239.8 million viewers have now watched the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl since it began being broadcast on ESPN in 1991, while an additional 100.4 million have watched the Aflac Kickoff Games since its creation in 2008 

MOST CHARITABLE BOWL ORGANIZATION: 

Peach Bowl, Inc. made $5.9 million in charitable donations for the 2023-2024 college football season, which represented the largest donation by any bowl organization in the country. This marked the sixth straight year the Peach Bowl has donated more than $5 million and the 17th straight year of eclipsing $1 million in giving. It also solidified the Peach Bowl’s position as college football’s most charitable bowl organization, having now donated $62.9 million to philanthropic efforts since 2002.  

For the 2023-24 season, recipients included the Peach Bowl LegACy Fund that is benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta with 12 pediatric cancer trials involving 37 children, the Westside Future Fund assisting Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, various university head coach foundations, the John Lewis Legacy of Courage endowed scholarship program that is helping 36 students at 33 universities and the Georgia Lions Lighthouse, among others.   

TEAM PAYOUTS: 

Ole Miss and Penn State received $6 million each – for a total of $12 million – in team payouts for playing in this year’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The Bowl has now disbursed $245.1 million in team payouts over its 56 years.

 This year’s Aflac Kickoff Game also distributed an additional $3.5 million in total payouts to bring the event’s all-time payout total to $117.7 million

With this past season’s cumulative $15.5 million in payouts, Peach Bowl, Inc. has now distributed a total of $362.9 million in all-time team payouts across all its events. 

UPCOMING SEASON: 

The 2024 college football season will open with the Aflac Kickoff Game on Aug. 31, which will feature a showdown between teams who have won four of the last eight CFP National Championships when Clemson and Georgia face off. The first-ever CFP Quarterfinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will then be played on New Year’s Day, showcasing a top four team against one of the nation’s best teams as part of the newly expanded 12-team playoff. 

@CFAPeachBowl