From almost shutting down because of a lack of interest and money in the mid-1980s, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl has become so much more.
In 2016 and again in 2019, the bowl will host the semifinals in the new college football playoff system. In 2018, it hopes to host the national championship game.
Talk about a Hail Mary.
“To be able to see a lot of people’s efforts over a lot of years and a lot of time, bind together and rise to the level to win the bid to be a part of the new college football playoff system has been quite rewarding,” bowl president and CEO Gary Stokan said.
But the new iteration of the game will lose some of the elements that helped it rise to national prominence.
First, the name change.
Peach, the bowl’s original moniker, is back after being shuttered in 2006. The College Football Playoff Selection Committee prefers that the bowls involved in the semifinal rotation — Orange, Fiesta, Cotton, Sugar, Rose and Peach — not have a name that’s exclusively a corporation’s, as the Chick-fil-A Bowl was.
Second, the annual ACC vs. SEC matchup that helped generate sellouts for 17 consecutive seasons can no longer be guaranteed. Even when the Peach Bowl isn’t hosting the semifinal, the matchup will be determined by the selection committee.
Because the committee has promised to use geographic proximity as an ingredient in choosing matchups, it stands to reason that at worst one team from one of those two conferences whose footprint is squarely atop Atlanta should annually play in the Dome.
Stokan shared that Bill Hancock, chairman of the playoff selection committee, used past year’s rankings to generate potential playoff matchups for that year. In 2006, Atlanta could have hosted Auburn vs. Oklahoma. In 2011, it could have hosted South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech.
So, the regional flavor that helped improve the game’s popularity should still be there.
“Those are types of games our college football ticket buyers (may) get to see,” Stokan said.
There will also be a time change for kickoff.
In past years, the Chick-fil-A Bowl has kicked off at night on New Year’s Eve, giving one team’s group of fans an early start on celebrating the changing of the calendar.
This year and next, the game will kick off at 1 p.m. The semifinal in 2016 will kick off at 5 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. The selection committee and ESPN will decide.
The good news is Stokan estimates there will be 9,000 more tickets available to public for these games than for the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The increased difference is related to the decreased number of tickets from 34,000 to 25,000 that are guaranteed to the participating conferences. Tickets will go in sale in mid-August with prices ranging from $110-$235.
“We think it’s a great opportunity for Atlanta and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in the college football playoff system,” Stokan said.
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