Dec. 29, 2008
ATLANTA – The 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl featuring No. 14 Georgia Tech and defending national champion LSU is sold out, officials announced today. This marks the Chick-fil-A Bowl’s 12th consecutive sellout, the third-longest sellout string among all bowl games.
Both Georgia Tech and LSU purchased their full ticket allotments from the Bowl and local and regional buyers purchased the remaining tickets through the Chick-fil-A Bowl office.
Each year, the Chick-fil-A Bowl sells more than 35,000 tickets in the Atlanta market. In 2008, the Bowl set a record by having 92% of its ticket holders renew their ticket package purchases.
“We really feel very fortunate to be supported by the Atlanta community year in and year out,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president. “We attribute this success to the great partnerships we have with the ACC and SEC and their member schools and the outstanding support we get each year from local Atlanta fans who continue to embrace us – even in a challenging economy.”
The Chick-fil-A Bowl is the highest-attended non-BCS game in the nation and its run of 12 straight sellouts ranks ahead of all other bowl games except the Fiesta and Rose Bowls. The Bowl’s ticket sales success, especially with local buyers, has paved the way for the Chick-fil-A Bowl to increase its charitable giving platform year after year.
“When you have this kind of long term success with ticket sales, it gives us the resources to give back to the community at levels no other bowl has been able to,” Stokan said. “And that part of our business is incredibly important to us.”
This year, the Chick-fil-A Bowl has committed to give more than $1.2 million in charitable and scholarship contributions, eclipsing the previous high mark of $1.04 million set last year. The Chick-fil-A Bowl continues to lead all bowl games in the country in charitable giving.
Some of the beneficiaries of the Chick-fil-A Bowl include the WinShape Foundation ($210,000), endowed scholarships at Georgia Tech and LSU ($200,000), the National Football Foundation’s Play It Smart program in the Atlanta public high school system ($180,000), the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation ($50,000) and $465,000 in charity and scholarship to NCAA universities who participated in the Chick-fil-A Bowl Alma Mater golf event.
Through the 2007 game, 2,249,658 total fans have attended Atlanta’s bowl game and the Dec. 31 match-up will put the Chick-fil-A Bowl over the 2.3 million mark.
The 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl will be played Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. (EST) and will be nationally televised by ESPN.
The Chick-fil-A Bowl is the longest-running rivalry series of top-ranked teams from the ACC and SEC and is recognized as one of the most competitive bowl games in college football. The Chick-fil-A Bowl owns exclusive rights to the first selection in the ACC – after the BCS – and will set a record this year with an all-time high $6.01 million in total team payout. The Chick-fil-A Bowl is the highest-attended non-BCS game in the country and leads all bowl games in charitable and scholarship contributions.
