The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl’s third College Football Playoff semifinal set all-time high marks for attendance and viewership, according to bowl officials.
The primetime showdown between No. 1 Georgia and No. 4 Ohio State on New Year’s Eve delivered an audience of 22.4 million total viewers, making it the most-watched Peach Bowl ever and the most-watched college football game of the 2022 season. Georgia won 42-41, advanced to the national championship game and won its second straight title.
The game also represented the fourth most-viewed television broadcast of 2022 among non-NFL games and was a top-20 all-time cable telecast on record, according to officials.
Attendance records for both the Kickoff Game and Peach Bowl were set during the 2022-23 season. The Kickoff Game between Oregon and Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium set a record of 76,490 to open the season. Georgia won 49-3. The Peach Bowl’s attendance of 79,330 set 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.
This year’s Peach Bowl game marked the earliest sellout in the Bowl’s 54-year history and was the earliest sellout for any New Year’s Six Bowl in the College Football Playoff era. It also represented the Bowl’s 23rd sellout in the last 26 years.
Georgia and Ohio State received $6 million each in team payouts for playing in this year’s CFP semifinal.
This year’s Kickoff Games also distributed an additional $13 million in total payouts for its four participants Oregon, Georgia, Clemson and Georgia Tech. Clemson defeated Georgia Tech, 41-10, in the other Kickoff Game.
Peach Bowl, Inc. donated $6.16 million in charitable contributions for the 2022-23 season, according to bowl officials. It represented the largest donation by any bowl game in the country. It also marked the fifth straight year the Peach Bowl has donated more than $5 million and the 16th straight year of eclipsing $1 million in giving. Recipients included the Peach Bowl LegACy Fund benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Westside Future Fund, Andrew & Walter Young Family YMCA, Atlanta Police Foundation, Atlanta Public Schools, endowed scholarships, various university head coach foundations, American Red Cross Hurricane Ian relief and the Georgia Lions Lighthouse, among others.
