The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl’s second College Football Playoff Semifinal highlighted another record-setting year for Peach Bowl, Inc., as the organization set a record for attendance and delivered significant results for economic impact, TV viewership and charitable donations.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate college football’s 150th anniversary season. This truly was a historic and record year for our organization, both on and off the field,” said Gary Stokan, Peach Bowl, Inc. CEO & president. “None of the milestones we achieved would have been possible without our relationship with the College Football Playoff, the players, coaches and fans from Oklahoma and LSU, Chick-fil-A, our sponsors and partners, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and of course, our staff, board and volunteers.”

“It was incredible to witness a historic performance by LSU and Joe Burrow on the field, while also seeing the record number of fans at the game,” said Bob Somers, Peach Bowl, Inc. chairman. “Having the opportunity to host a Semifinal is an honor for us and the entire city of Atlanta. We should all take pride in that and in the memories we created for everyone involved. We look forward to hosting our next Semifinal in 2022.”

MORE THAN $90 MILLION IN COMBINED ECONOMIC IMPACT:

The 2019 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game and College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl combined to deliver $91.2 million in economic impact, and $6.78 million in direct state and local tax revenue within metro Atlanta according to a study by Dr. Bruce Seaman of the Georgia State University Department of Economics.

The 2019 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 1 LSU) provided $58.4 million in economic impact and $4.48 million in direct tax revenue, which represents the second-largest economic impact and tax revenue in the Bowl’s history, trailing only the 2016 College Football Playoff Semifinal. Last year’s Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game (Duke vs. No. 2 Alabama) drove an additional $32.8 million in economic impact and $2.3 million in direct tax revenue.

“We saw a significant year-over-year increase in both economic impact and tax revenue, thanks in large part to the fact this year’s contest was a Semifinal game,” said Dr. Seaman. “Two large, out-of-town fan bases descending upon Atlanta, along with a record attendance in the stadium, helped boost this year’s results.”

Since becoming a New Year’s Six bowl in 2014, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl has now delivered a total of $286.1 million in economic impact and more than $22.54 million in direct state and local tax revenue, including $120.3 million in economic impact and $9.18 million in direct tax revenue during its two Semifinal games.

Since 2002, college football games hosted by Peach Bowl, Inc. have now delivered $1.22 billion in total economic impact, and $72.84 million in combined direct state and local tax revenue.

2019 Season and Cumulative Impact by the Numbers: Metro Atlanta

The following chart shows the weighted average amount spent per person (including taxes) by the non-Georgia based fans who stayed in hotels or bed & breakfasts, out of the 78,347 fans who attended last year’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

ALL-TIME RECORD ATTENDANCE:

This year’s attendance of 78,347 set new Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and Mercedes-Benz Stadium records, surpassing the number of fans who attended Super Bowl LIII, the 2018 CFP National Championship and the SEC Championship in the same venue. The Bowl also saw a new FanFest attendance record of 35,733 for its pregame fan event at the Georgia World Congress Center.

This year’s game represented the Bowl’s fourth straight sellout as a New Year’s Six bowl and its 21st sellout in the last 23 years. It was the second-earliest sellout in Peach Bowl history behind only the Bowl’s 2016 Semifinal (Alabama vs. Washington).

More than 3.1 million fans have now attended the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl since its inaugural contest in 1968.

Combined with this year’s sold out Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games have now drawn more than 4.1 million fans all-time.

THE MATCHUP:

This year’s Semifinal matchup of No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 1 LSU marked the fourth top-10 matchup and the second top-five contest for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoff era.

It also represented the first time a Heisman Trophy winner played in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl during his Heisman season (Joe Burrow, LSU), and marked the first time the eventual College Football Playoff National Championship team played in the Bowl (LSU).

LSU’s dominating 63-28 win over the Sooners broke or tied 18 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl records, 13 New Year’s Six bowl records, 20 College Football Playoff Semifinal records and four all-time bowl game records.

TOP THREE-RANKED TELEVISION VIEWERSHIP:

The showdown between No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 1 LSU delivered an audience of 19.3 million total viewers, making it the second most-watched Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl ever and the third most-watched college football game of 2019.

The Bowl has now seen a combined viewership of 40.9 million fans for its two Semifinal contests, and more than 193.2 million viewers have now watched the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl since it began being broadcast on ESPN in 1991.

CREATED TO GIVE:

Peach Bowl, Inc. furthered its reputation as college football’s most charitable bowl organization in 2019 by contributing $7.2 million in charitable and scholarship donations

In addition, Peach Bowl, Inc. announced the creation of the Peach Bowl LegACy Fund, a historic $20 million gift to the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. The Peach Bowl LegACy Fund will be focused on funding clinical drug trials over the next five years for the most promising new drugs and treatment options for children fighting cancer. The donation represents the largest gift ever given by the Peach Bowl, Inc. and one of the largest ever received by Children’s.

These donations now bring Peach Bowl, Inc.’s bowl-leading charitable contribution total to $56 million for organizations in need since 2002.

TEAM PAYOUTS:

Oklahoma and LSU received $6 million each – for a total of $12 million – in team payouts for playing in this year’s CFP Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The Bowl has now disbursed $197.2 million in team payouts in its 52 years.

Alabama and Duke received a total of $7.75 million in team payouts for their participation in the season-opening Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. Since 2008, Peach Bowl, Inc. has contributed $83.5 million in team payouts to teams participating in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.

Peach Bowl, Inc. has now distributed a total of $280.7 million in all-time team payouts across all its events.