The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Challenges remain as Kickoff holds hope for ‘comeback season’
Like many involved in college athletics, Gary Stokan finds himself wondering how a wide range of challenges will play out.
“I don’t know that there has ever been a bigger inflection point in college sports,” said Stokan, president and CEO of Peach Bowl Inc. “With NIL (name/image/likeness), the transfer portal, potential CFP expansion and conference expansion, it is the most challenging time ever in college athletics.”
The Atlanta events operated by Peach Bowl Inc., the season-opening Chick-fil-a Kickoff games and the end-of-season Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl, will be affected in uncertain ways by the changes to come, particularly by College Football Playoff expansion. But for now, Stokan is content to have his games fully back in business.
Last season, three scheduled Kickoff games were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the bowl game was played with limited attendance. This weekend, the Kickoff event will return with No. 1-ranked Alabama meeting No. 14 Miami at Mercedes-benz Stadium on Saturday afternoon, followed by Ole Miss vs. Louisville on Monday night.
“We feel like this is the comeback season for college football,” Stokan said.
Based on ticket sales locally and by the participating schools, Stokan predicts a full stadium for Saturday’s game, which matches quarterbacks Bryce Young of Alabama and D’eriq King of Miami, both of whom have cashed in on marketing deals under college football’s new NIL rules.
“The Alabama-miami game will be one of the tougher tickets we’ve ever had,” said Stokan, noting it’ll be the first meeting of those schools in football since their No. 1-versus-no. 2 matchup in the 1993 Sugar Bowl. “The stadium will be full.”
He acknowledged Monday’s game isn’t “as tough a ticket.”
The Chick-fil-a Kickoff this week announced coronavirus-related protocols for the games, matching those that have been in place at other Mercedes-benz Stadium events amid the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Masks will be “required” in enclosed spaces, including the clubs and merchandise store. They won’t be required, but will be “strongly encouraged,” in other areas, including the seating bowl, concourses and suites with doors to the open air.
Also, as at other recent sports events in the stadium, it was announced that the retractable roof will be open for the two Kickoff games, making them the first college football games played in the 4-year-old stadium with the roof open. Asked for clarification, a Kickoff games spokesman said the roof will be open “weather permitting.”
Alabama is 15-1 in Atlanta under coach Nick Saban, including 14 consecutive wins. Already, it is 5-0 in Mercedes-benz Stadium, which replaced the Georgia Dome in 2017. Saturday’s game will mark Alabama’s seventh Chick-fil-a Kickoff appearance since the annual event was created in 2008, with the Crimson Tide winning the previous six.
“We always look forward to playing in Atlanta,” Saban said this week. “It has been a place, a city, that has been very welcoming to us. And the atmosphere and environment there has always been fantastic in whatever venue that we play.”
However, Alabama isn’t committed to return to the Chick-fil-a Kickoff beyond this year, a reflection of how broader changes in college sports will have a ripple effect on the event.
While an anticipated larger playoff field, such as the proposed 12-team format, would raise the margin of error for elite programs and make them more willing to schedule high-profile non-conference games, some programs recently have moved toward scheduling such games as homeand-home series, rather than at neutral sites.
Alabama, for example, has lined up compelling home-and-home non-conference series from 2022 through 2035 without involving neutral-site games. That makes Saturday sort of the end of an era for the Chick-fil-a Kickoff, which has been defined in part by frequent appearances by Alabama.
“The amount of teams (for neutral sites) to schedule has been diminished,” Stokan said. “I think it’ll be tougher and tougher. Not knowing what this new alliance between the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 will bring on, it’s certainly going to be challenging moving forward.
“I think most athletic directors are looking at the revenue they need from home schedules. That home season-ticket holder — I guess because of us creating these great games at the beginning of the season — wants to see great games (on campus) at the start of the season. As an AD, you need those people on campus for tickets, concessions, donor money and merchandise (sales).”
Given that strategic shift in longterm scheduling, the Chick-fil-a Kickoff is fortunate to already have games lined up for the next four years, including Georgia-oregon and Georgia Tech-clemson in 2022, Tech-louisville in 2023, Georgia-clemson in 2024 and South Carolina-virginia Tech and Tennessee-syracuse in 2025.