Gary Stokan With Peach Bowl, Inc.

Speaker1: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio, brought to you by Kennesaw State University’s Executive MBA program, the accelerated degree program for working professionals looking to advance their career and enhance their leadership skills. And now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, CSU’s executive MBA program. Without them, we wouldn’t be sharing these important stories today on Atlanta Business Radio. We have Gary Stokan, and he is the president and CEO with the Peach Bowl. Welcome.

Gary Stokan: Hey, Lee, how are you?

Lee Kantor: I am doing well. I am so excited to get caught up with what’s happening at the Peach Bowl. But for the two people out there who don’t know what the Peach Bowl is, kind of share a little bit about mission purpose and how you’re serving the community.

Gary Stokan: Sure. I appreciate you having us. We, uh, we were founded back in 1968 as the first bowl game founded for charity and the ninth bowl game founded overall. And it’s always been our mission to be the most charitable bowl organization in the country. And we’ve done that by, uh, donating $64 million since 2002 to various charities around the country and here, mainly here in Atlanta. And that makes us by far the most charitable organization in the country. So by being a part of the CFP now, the College Football Playoff and being the most charitable bowl game, we’ve met our mission to to welcome people to Atlanta using college football for the greater good.

Lee Kantor: Now, can you talk about maybe the genesis of the idea? What kind of was the thinking to tie charity along with this bowl game? Because bowl games had been going around for decades, if not now, over probably a century. What was the thinking there?

Gary Stokan: Well, there was there was eight bowl games already in the United States. And George Crumbley, who was leading the Lions Lighthouse at the time, said, well, we need to create a fundraiser to raise money for what our mission is. And Atlanta is a football crazy town. So let’s start a bowl game. And so he tried three different times with the NCAA to get a license to create a bowl game. And finally, on the third time in 1968, he was successful and he started the Peach Bowl. And so we’ve had a great run. It was tough in the beginning. They didn’t make any money for a lot of years. But now we’re very, very successful, very successful financially as well as nationally. And we’ve been able to help the Lions Lighthouse grow as well with our charitable contributions.

Lee Kantor: Now, how did the bowl kind of evolve to get into the CFP? Like you mentioned, because as you mentioned, it was the the at that time, it was the new kid on the block. And then now there’s it seems like there’s dozens of bowl games. How did the Peach Bowl kind of earn its way up the ladder into one of the Premier Bowls?

Gary Stokan: Yeah, I have to laugh because my first year in 1998, uh, I, I was in charge of selecting the teams, and I selected Georgia to play Virginia. And Virginia was ranked 12th in the country, and Georgia wasn’t ranked but the head headline of the AJC sports section that day said that, uh, Georgia going to Peach Bowl, a third tier bowl game. So our own newspaper thought of Atlanta as a third tier bowl game. And, um, you know, back in 1985, I guess we were, uh, because we had Army in Illinois and there were 22,000 people in old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. And, uh, the weather was terrible. And Dick Bestwick, who had my position at the time, said that unless the business leaders in this city get involved, the Peach Bowl is going to go out of business. And so he rallied. Um, uh, uh, Ron Allen, who was the CEO then of Delta Airlines, and he was the incoming chair for the Chamber of Commerce. And, uh, he said, well, we can’t let the Peach Bowl fail, so we’re going to put up $100,000 check, and we’re going to sell a bunch of tickets. And, uh, so he had Bob Coggin, his chief marketing officer, go out to all their vendors and have them buy tickets to the Peach Bowl, and they sold 3300 tickets. And financially, that helped the Peach Bowl along with that $100,000. And then Ron rallied, you know, the Coca-colas and the other corporations in the city. And, um, the Peach Bowl stayed in business and slow, but sure, moving into the Georgia Dome, getting a contract with the ACC to play the SEC, uh, getting on ESPN.

Gary Stokan: And then subsequently, in 1997, chick fil A signing on as a title sponsor for the game. It gave us the the underpinnings, uh, financial success with chick fil A, uh, with the ACC and SEC ticket buyers. And we were off and running and, um, in 2006 when the, uh, commissioners said, we’re going to start a, uh, you know, a national championship game. We need another bowl game beyond the Rose, sugar, orange and Fiesta. Us in the Cotton Bowl made great bids, but neither of us won as the commissioners decided to let the four bowls have their game on January 1st, and then take the national championship game and rotate it between the rose, the sugar, the orange and the Fiesta. And so in 2007, the NCAA legislated a 12th game to the schedule. And I said, well, being a competitive son of a gun, I said, well, if they’re not going to let us in the BCS on the on the backside of the season, we’re going to start the BCS on the front side of the season. And so I started the kickoff game and had Alabama and Clemson come to play. Sold out us the game in the Georgia Dome. And uh, you know, we basically recreated what now is the front side of the season in college football with great matchups because prior to that teams would play non-directional schools and get easy wins.

Gary Stokan: It was kind of everybody looked at it as an exhibition season to get three wins and then start your conference schedule. Well, now you have the likes of Notre Dame playing Ohio State in the first game of the year. And, you know, we’ll have two kickoff games this year with Syracuse and Tennessee on Saturday. And then on Sunday, uh, we’ll have Virginia Tech play South Carolina. And that’s never been done. Two games within 24 hours in one city. Um, but the kickoff game really elevated our brand to a lot of people around the country because we had blockbuster sellout games with huge TV viewership. And then, uh, we went after the College Football Hall of Fame. I was just coming out of working the Atlanta Sports Council and using Bob Costas famous statement around the 96 Olympic Games that, you know, Atlanta is becoming the sports capital of the world. So in 98, based on the foundation that was put in place by the Olympics, we went out and, um, you know, we got all the NBA, Major League Baseball, NHL all star games. We brought a lot of Olympic type events back into town. And, um, so we made Atlanta the sports capital of the world. And then I said, well, why not make Atlanta the football capital of the world? Because we have huge football fans in this, in this city from all over the country. They they emanate to Atlanta and get jobs and they follow their teams.

Gary Stokan: And so in 285, it would look like a NASCAR race with flags from all kind of ACC and SEC teams and even Big Ten teams driving around to get to their to their games on a Saturday. And so we, uh, we went after the College Football Hall of Fame and we moved it from South Bend to Into Atlanta. And I think those two things, along with the success we were having of selling out Peach Bowl’s, uh, the commissioners looked at what we were doing in Atlanta and said, hey, they deserve a chance. And in 2014 over 15 season, when the CFP was created, uh, they took Atlanta and the Peach Bowl, along with the Cotton Bowl, added to the four bowls of the Rose, sugar, orange and Fiesta. And we became the new year six bowl games. And now we’re currently involved in running the CFP playoff, which started this past year, where we host quarterfinals for two years and then a semifinal. Um, and so this year, we’ll host the semifinal of the College Football Playoff. So, you know, having the College Football Hall of Fame here, having the kickoff games, having successful Peach Bowl has allowed us to recruit the national championship game here twice since 2017 And, uh, have quarterfinals and semifinal games. So now we are looked at as the, uh, the shining light in college football is, uh, a lot of media have called us the capital of college football in Atlanta, Georgia.

Lee Kantor: And do you see any, um, is there any trends you’re seeing with regarding the Nil and the portal systems, uh, with the player transfers? Is the popularity of the game, I’m sure in game day and especially in Atlanta at those games that you’re describing, it’s full house and and they’re always sold out. But is it impacting kind of the, um, popularity of the sport or is it just growing the sport more and more?

Gary Stokan: Yeah, I think the College Football Playoff was responsible this year for increasing the viewership of college football as well as attendance, uh, primarily because you had interest from around the country longer into November and early December with teams that could vie to make up the 12 team playoff. So you had more interest across the country. Number one, that led to more viewership. And secondly, because you’re probably 30 to 40 teams were still vying for those 12 slot slots to make the playoff in in December late December. Um, attendance was increased all throughout the year instead of in the old playoff where you had four teams. There was no team that had two losses that ever made the 14 playoff. And so if you got an early loss in September by, you know, October, November, a lot of people, you know, didn’t follow the team as much because they knew they were out of the playoffs. So I think the playoff has really created a new opportunity for college football to grow. Uh, we’re currently the second most favorite sport in the country, uh, only behind the NFL. Uh, I think we’ve taken a hit with the transfer portal and nil a little bit, uh, that some people have been turned off by, you know, kind of a pay for play for players. Um, uh, by players transferring. They don’t know the players as well because the players aren’t staying for years. Um, but we need some guardrails. We need some regulation from Congress. Uh, I think that’s going to happen. And, um, you know, we’ve got to we’ve got to remain, uh, a collegiate experience where kids are offered a scholarship, uh, get an education, get a degree, because most of these kids are not going to play pro sports. Um, the advent of the Pell Grant and and helping now nil money give these kids an opportunity to start out their career in life and in business, uh, successfully, without any debt. And, uh, with with a great opportunity. So, uh, college football is meeting its mission and will continue to do so.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, do you think that the fact that the Peach Bowl started I mean, we got to the point where it was ACC versus SEC, um, and Atlanta, they have Georgia Tech and Georgia Tech has a stadium, but the there’s so much activity at, uh, at Mercedes-Benz now with these big college games like that you’re bringing in now there’s two kickoffs. Now the Peach Bowl there just seems to be it’s almost I don’t want to say it’s a neutral site, but it’s it’s kind of, um, maybe college agnostic spot for the SEC and the ACC to just create big events. Are you finding that because of your efforts that more and more people are going and attending these kind of college games downtown?

Gary Stokan: Yeah, certainly the the Peach Bowl back in, uh, 1992. I guess it was when the Georgia Dome was built. Uh, the SEC had started a championship game and played the first two years in Birmingham, Alabama. Uh, but they had bad weather. And with the Georgia Dome being, you know, 72 degrees and indoors, obviously, uh, the Peach Bowl worked with the SEC to bring the SEC Championship game to Atlanta. So a lot of tickets for it. Um, and, uh, so the SEC, along with our two kickoff games and the chick fil A Peach Bowl and the national championship that was played in January, late January, uh, they’ll comprise five of the top six conventions in the city of Atlanta this year. And if you think about Atlanta, Atlanta is the fourth largest convention town in the United States, behind Las Vegas, Chicago, Orlando and then Atlanta. So to think about five of the top six conventions in the fourth largest convention town in the United States. Our college football games. The SEC Championship. The two kickoff Aflac kickoff games, the chick fil A Peach Bowl, and the national championship game. So, um, the economic impact and the tax revenues that flow back to Atlanta and Georgia through college football are unlike any other city in the country. And that’s the reason why a lot of people call Atlanta the capital of college football.

Lee Kantor: Now, how important is it to have kind of this really collaborative public private entities working together for kind of the the common good? Atlanta, to me, seems like that’s part of the secret sauce of why, um, so much gets done here.

Gary Stokan: Lee, you’ve hit on it. There’s no doubt about it. When I talk to people around the country and they ask me that same question, uh, it all started with the Olympic Games. There was a perspective and a feeling after the Olympic Games, through the volunteers, through the city and the state, working together through the corporate leaders that we could do anything. And so that’s one one of the reasons we’ve been very successful. It is the secret sauce in the recipe of our success. Um, a lot of lot of cities have stadiums. Um, we have great stadiums, close proximity to our, our hotels with 16,000 hotel rooms downtown, easy walking distance to the facilities, great restaurants and things to do, like the College Football Hall of Fame and aquarium around the hotels and our and our facilities for people to entertain themselves. Um, we have the most effective and efficient airport in the country, probably in the world. Um, with hourly flights from a lot of the major markets like Chicago, New York, DC, LA, etc. so you can get to town easy. You can, um, you know, you can be in the middle of downtown in 15, 20 minutes. Uh, you don’t even have to rent a car. You can get on Marta and be in downtown Atlanta. You can walk around the city to our facilities, our entertainment, our restaurants, um, and all that is important. The infrastructure, the having three interstates that intersect into downtown. So people from the east and west and north and south can get here. Uh, all that infrastructure makes for the opportunity. But at the end of the day, it takes people, it takes strategy, it takes, uh, people willing to commit, uh, volunteer hours, uh, corporations willing to commit money. And, uh, we’ve been able to rally all of that together, uh, to make Atlanta very, very successful in, in the world of sports.

Lee Kantor: And it seems like we’re just scratching the surface with the advent of the gulch. Uh, what’s happening in south downtown, uh, with, you know, with the Georgia Tech and Georgia state campuses being right there in the midst of things, it seems like we’re just now about to begin again.

Gary Stokan: Yeah, it really is. It’s it’s interesting. Um, the World Cup in 2026 is basically going to mirror what happened, uh, and elevate the city. Um, maybe not to the tune of what the Olympics did, because back in 1990, when Atlanta was selected to to host the Olympic Games, a lot of people around the the world, um, thought Atlantic City had won the rights. Uh, because Atlanta was not a well-known, uh, international city at the time. And then when by the time 1996 got here and the Olympic Games, it made Atlanta an international city. And I think the World Cup is going to take that to the next level in 2026 when we host the World Cup.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Gary Stokan: Well, we’re very, very blessed to have great volunteers, a wonderful board that supports what we’re doing, uh, tremendous support from the business community in sponsoring a lot of the, the headquarters, uh, companies like Delta and Chick fil A and Home Depot and Kia and, uh, Georgia Power. Uh, support what we’re doing. Um, the city leaders and the state have been tremendous. The facilities, like Arthur Blank and, uh, what he’s been able to do with Mercedes-Benz Stadium. So everything there, it’s just a matter of creating the next, uh, whatever it is. And we’ve been very exciting to do it in college football and make Atlanta such a prevalent, uh, hotbed and capital of college football, but yet still maintaining our mission of donating, uh, you know, $64 million back to charities to help charities in Atlanta and in, uh, cities where teams come from, you know, our, uh, around the country to play in our game, we donate $100,000 scholarship under our John Lewis Legacy of Courage scholarship. And those scholarship monies, which are over $9 million now, $9.5 million, I believe, uh, all around the country, they’re earmarked for kids from Atlanta and or Georgia, title one kids to get those scholarships.

Gary Stokan: Um, so we’ve been able to look out for the education purposes of kids that in their whole generation of their families, no one’s ever gone to college. And some of these kids now are able to go to college. Uh, they’re underprivileged, uh, to get an opportunity to get a degree and hopefully change the self-fulfilling prophecy of not only their family, but their communities. Um, and then to, uh, work with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and with Aflac to, uh, now have 14 trials, uh, in five different, uh, uh, states. Um, and uh, creating hopefully, uh, cure to eradicate childhood cancer with, uh, certainly with, uh, whether it’s neuroblastoma or leukemia. We have trials going on that people, you know, hopefully will come up with a cure for a kid for a day. Another day, another month, another year or maybe a lifetime to eradicate childhood cancer. So those are a couple of our big initiatives that we’re working on by using college football to do the greater good.

Lee Kantor: And if somebody wants to learn more, What’s the website to get tickets or just to learn more about what’s happening over at the Peach Bowl?

Gary Stokan: Yeah, we’re on Facebook. We’re on Instagram. Um, we’re on X. Uh, our website is, uh, chick fil A Peach bowl.com. So, um, yeah, if you want to volunteer and be a part of the, uh, the great success we’re doing and helping people by using college football, please join us. Um, and whether you want to sponsor, whether you want to volunteer, we’d love to have you involved. And it’s it’s a great feeling to give back to the city that’s, uh, meant so much to all of us.

Lee Kantor: Well, Gary, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work, and we appreciate you.

Gary Stokan: Sure, Lee, thanks for having us. Appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.