Tide will play Hokies in Ga. Dome next season
From staff reports
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Atlanta will be awash in maroon and crimson on Sept. 5.
The crimson and cream of Alabama will play the maroon and orange of Virginia Tech in the second Chick-fil-A College Kickoff at the Georgia Dome, according to Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president. The game will be televised by ABC or ESPN.
“We hope to have a white-out on one side of the dome and a crimson-out on the other,” Stokan joked.
He said that Chick-fil-A is trying to create a BCS-type situation to kick off each college football season.
“We think next year that both teams will be preseason top 10,” Stokan said.
This will be the Crimson Tide’s second appearance in the Kickoff. Alabama landed on the front of Sports Illustrated after it stunned Clemson, 34-10, in last year’s inaugural game. The Tide used that win to eventually rise to No. 1, which it held onto until losing to Florida in the SEC championship game. Alabama, No. 4 in the BCS standings, will play Utah in the Sugar Bowl.
No. 19 Virginia Tech defeated Boston College in the ACC Championship game, and will play Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl.
Tickets will be split evenly between the two teams and the game and surrounding events will be managed by the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
According to the Atlanta Sports Council, the 2008 Kickoff drew a sold-out crowd of 70,097 and was viewed in more than four million households. The pre-game fan activities were attended by more than 22,000 fans and the event created an economic impact of $29.1 million for Atlanta and Georgia including $1.2 million in direct tax revenues.
Stokan said this year’s game will have an estimated impact of between $30-35 million.
“Atlanta is the heartbeat of college football with the sold-out Kickoff game, the SEC championship, and the Chick-fil-A Bowl,” Stokan said.
