Chick-fil-A Bowl Set for 2009
The Chick-fil-A Bowl will play its 42nd annual rivalry game between the ACC and SEC on Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. in the Georgia Dome, Bowl officials announced today.
The game will feature the first selection from the ACC (after the BCS) against a strong SEC opponent and will be nationally televised by ESPN, running unopposed in its time slot.
“The prime time unopposed TV time slot on New Year’s Eve has been a great fit for us as a showcase on ESPN,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. “Our TV ratings have often been equal to or higher than ratings of New Year’s Day bowls and it helps the travelling fans by creating a long game weekend.”
This will mark the 18th New Year’s Eve edition of Atlanta’s bowl game and the fifth in the last eight years. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has elected to play on New Year’s Day, or later, seven times – most recently in 2004.
The Chick-fil-A Bowl has sold out 12 straight games and is among the highest-attended non-BCS bowl games in the nation while delivering a historically strong television rating each year. Over the last 10 years, more than 38.7 million households have watched the Chick-fil-A Bowl on ESPN helping it become two of the top five and four of the top 15 most-viewed bowls in ESPN broadcast history.
“The Chick-fil-A Bowl continues to have tremendous success for ESPN in prime time on New Year's Eve,” said Dave Brown, ESPN vice president, programming and acquisitions. “It’s been our highest-rated bowl game on average over the past five years. We look forward to another great game in 2009.”
This year will mark the 18th in which rivals from the ACC and SEC have been matched in what remains one the most competitive bowl games in college football. The SEC leads the ACC 9-8 over the 17 years of this rivalry series.
About the Chick-fil-A Bowl:
The Chick-fil-A Bowl is the ninth-oldest bowl game in the country and hosts the longest-running rivalry series between the ACC and SEC. Now in its 42nd year, the Chick-fil-A Bowl has established itself as one of the nation’s elite bowl games with a string of 12 consecutive sellouts and has earned a reputation as one of the most competitive bowls in the nation. Ten of the last 17 games have been decided by a touchdown or less. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has disbursed more than $90 million in team payouts over its 41-year history and has increased team payout every year since 1996. The Bowl also leads all other bowl games in charitable and scholarship contributions, giving more than $1.2 million to organizations in need in 2007 alone. Other events under the Chick-fil-A Bowl brand include the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge head coach and celebrity golf event each April and the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff season-opening game over Labor Day weekend which will host two top-10 teams, Alabama and Virginia Tech, to open the 2009 season Sept. 5.