College football’s championship game set a few Atlanta records

First presidential visit to a college football championship since 1980 First All-SEC College Football Playoff national championship matchup First College Football Playoff national championship overtime finish Highest-rated college football game in Atlanta (47.8 rating) to air on ESPN Highest-attended college football game in Atlanta with 77,430 fans

Alabama's overtime victory over Georgia in the College Football Playoff championship game Jan. 8 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium drew 77,430 fans, a record for a college football game in Atlanta.

And that’s not the only record it set for Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s championship debut.

Organizers of the four-year-old College Football Playoff say previous attendance records were broken for several of the ancillary events: Playoff Fan Central, a three-day, 300,000-square foot interactive fan festival in the Georgia World Congress Center; Media Day, held in Philips Arena two days before the game; and the Extra Yard 5K race, held one day before the game.