With the ACC, Big 12, and SEC waiting until next week to make a decision on their respective season schedules, three prominent Chick-fil-A Starter Games remain in limbo.
If those three conferences follow Big Ten and Pac-12 to go conference play alone due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Florida State-West Virginia, Georgia-Virginia, and Auburn-North Carolina games scheduled for weeks 1 and 2 in Atlanta they would have it canceled, a loss that Peach Bowl CEO Gary Stokan estimates at $ 100 million in economic impact.
“If we didn’t have COVID-19, we would be on our way to selling all three games,” Stokan said in a phone interview with ESPN. “We would have had over $ 100 million in economic impact and probably $ 7.5 million will go back to the tourism industry locally in Atlanta. So it is a great loss to the community if we don’t have games. If we have some capacity, we can still make a little money for the tourism industry because they have been excluded from everything. We could be a bit of a bright spot. “
This is the first time in Kickoff Game history that they agreed to play three games to open the season. Although Stokan has no say in the end result, he has tried to play a matchmaker for them.
If all three decided to adopt a conference game model plus one without a conference, the SEC / ACC rivalry games between Florida-Florida State, Georgia-Georgia Tech, Louisville-Kentucky and Clemson-South Carolina would surely be saved.
That model would impact two teams in all three scheduled Kickoff Games. Stokan has paired Virginia-West Virginia to fill the gaps and at least save two of the three games.
Additionally, he also released Notre Dame-Alabama and Notre Dame-Miami to the three athletic directors of those schools, as they all have holes in their game schedules that were canceled by Big Ten and Pac-12.
Stokan doesn’t know if any of his ideas have any traction, but he felt he had to do something to at least try.
“I have to throw a Hail Mary, because if I don’t and they go to the conference alone, we lose three Kickoff Games,” Stokan said.
Stokan said that if the conferences decided to stick with the games but delay the start of the season, the Mercedes-Benz stadium could still host the games. In fact, he said the stadium is set up to host all three Kickoff Games, the SEC Championship Game and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at any time on the calendar, even in the spring.
“We have to be as flexible as possible, and we will be with respect to our partners in College Football Playoff, the bowling game and conference commissioners for the Kickoff Games,” Stokan said. “If they want to put us in September, if they want to put it is in October, if they want to start the season with conference games and play the plus one at the end, we can do it. We are able to move our bowling game. We can play in March or May if they play in the spring.
“Every time they need us to play, all the bowling directors of the Football Bowl Association feel the same way: we will be as flexible as they need us to be.”
.
