Including Record-High $41.8 Million Impact from Bowl
$6.8 Million in Direct Tax Revenue generated within Metro Area
Organization’s cumulative impact reaches more than $842 million with $43.9 million in tax revenue
ATLANTA (May 11, 2016) -The two college football games hosted by Peach Bowl, Inc. in 2015 combined to drive $70.6 million in economic impact and generate $6.8 million in direct tax revenue for metro Atlanta officials announced today. An estimated $41.8 million of that total is attributed to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, representing the largest economic impact ever recorded for the game.
In total, the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game (Auburn vs. Louisville) and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Houston vs. Florida State) combined to draw 144,934 fans to Atlanta. In terms of visitors to the city, the two games represent the fifth and sixth-largest events for Atlanta in 2015. More than 8.4 million additional fans watched the games on television.
Although annual results vary based on the identity and location of the participating teams, results of the Bowl’s annual economic impact study show that college football is a significant economic engine for Atlanta and Georgia.
“In terms of bringing visitors to the city, college football games continue to be some of the biggest ‘conventions’ we have on an annual basis,” said Gary Stokan, Peach Bowl, Inc. president and CEO. “And with the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl’s enhanced visibility as one of the New Year’s Six, this economic potential becomes even more important.”
“When you have two events that serve as “book-ends” to the college football season,” Stokan added. “You have a guaranteed draw for 150,000 visitors per year coming to the region to help fill hotels, restaurants, attractions and shopping centers at a traditionally slow time of the year for the hospitality industry.”
The sustainable nature of these games and their value to Atlanta is realized in the cumulative numbers that have been tracked since 1999. Over that time, college football games hosted by Peach Bowl, Inc. have delivered $842.1 million in total economic impact and $43.9 million in combined direct tax revenue generated within the metro area.
“The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl represent two of the largest events held in Atlanta each year,” said William Pate, president and CEO, Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. “They bring tens of thousands of fans to our city days before kickoff to experience our attractions, eat at award-winning restaurants and enjoy the best shopping in the Southeast, which generates millions of dollars in critical economic impact for Atlanta.”
The economic impact study was conducted by Dr. Bruce A. Seaman, associate professor of economics at Georgia State University. It also revealed additional information about how long visitors stayed and how much money they spent while they were here.
“Our goal is to continue to modify and update our model and parameters, including the way in which we collect the data via our survey of game attendees to most accurately reflect the true economic impact of these events,” Dr. Seaman said. “Even though these changes may reduce the reported impacts, it is critical to have accurate and credible numbers with which to gauge the net impact these games have on our economy.”
The following chart shows the average amount spent per person (including taxes) by the estimated 41,411 non-Georgia based fans who stayed in hotels of the 71,007 fans who attended the 2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
2015 Average Spending
| Expenditure per person | Average Spend (Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl) | Average Spend (Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game) |
| Hotel per day (adjusted for room occupancy) | $53.46 | $45.99 |
| Food & Beverage per day | $55.28 | $57.46 |
| Transportation per day | $21.55 | $25.44 |
| Stadium (excluding ticket) | $63.56 | $55.74 |
| Shopping total stay | $64.90 | $60.17 |
| Average length of stay | 2.70 nights | 2.09 nights |
2015 and Cumulative Impact by the Numbers: Metro Atlanta
| Event | Eco. Impact (2015) |
Eco. Impact (Cumulative) |
Tax Revenue (2015) | Tax Revenue (Cumulative) |
| Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | $41.8 million | $536.4 million | $3.9 million | $26.1 million |
| Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game | $28.8 million | $305.7 million | $2.9 million | $17.8 million |
| TOTAL | $70.6 million | $842.1 million | $6.8 million | $43.9 million |
Adjustments were made to account for displaced spending that would have occurred without the games and for the proportion of visitor spending actually captured by regional vendors.
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About the economic impact study:
Economic Impact is the incremental net change in gross product resulting from the net new spending injected and captured within the metro area, and also incorporates an output spending multiplier of 1.95. A downward adjustment is made for the team payouts paid by Peach Bowl, Inc. to the universities and to the College Football Playoff, as well as for the expenses paid by the teams to local hotels and vendors during their stay in Atlanta. Tax revenues reported include those from local option sales, state sales taxes collected locally, hotel-motel taxes and transportation taxes (including non-federal airport fees) within the metro area.
In an effort to continually improve the economic impact model used and ensure its accuracy, Peach Bowl, Inc. and Dr. Seaman made modifications to the formula in 2015. Slight changes were made to the metro output multiplier used to reflect the latest data reported by IMPLAN (Impact analysis for Planning, reporting I-RIMS multipliers) that help capture the full indirect and induced effects. Additional downward adjustments in economic impact were made to account for the reality that not all visitors from outside Georgia (or outside Metro Atlanta but within Georgia) who spent money in the city were doing so solely because of the games in contrast to combining or rescheduling an already planned trip to the region. Ongoing adjustments for visitor vs. non-visitor spending and less than 100% local capture rates for visitor spending (beyond team payouts) were also applied.
The Economic Impact Model was originally developed in partnership with the Atlanta Sports Council, Atlanta-based McKinsey & Company and Dr. Bruce A. Seaman, Georgia State University economics professor and past president of the Association for Cultural Economics, International. The model provides a defensibly accurate approximation of the direct, indirect and induced economic impacts generated by major sporting events, being sensitive to the many legitimate criticisms that can be made of such studies. Because it incorporates data derived from a carefully administered survey of those attending the games (with sample sizes typically ranging from 600 to 800), the reported impacts are not solely “ex ante” estimates, but incorporate information as obtained from people actually attending the events.
About Peach Bowl, Inc.:
Peach Bowl, Inc. operates the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the ninth-oldest bowl game in the country and one of New Year’s Six Bowls selected to host the College Football Playoff. In 2014 and 2015, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl hosted top nationally ranked teams as assigned by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. In 2016, the Bowl will host its first College Football Playoff Semifinal (#1 vs. #4 or #2 vs. #3). The Bowl has earned a reputation as one of the most competitive bowls in the country, with 54% (26 of 48) of its games being decided by a touchdown or less. Peach Bowl, Inc. has disbursed $150 million in team payouts over its 48-year history and has increased team payout every year since 1996. The Bowl also leads all other bowl game organizations in charitable and scholarship contributions, giving more than $19.5 million to organizations in need since 2002. Peach Bowl, Inc. also owns and manages the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament and is the presenting sponsor and manager of The Dodd Trophy national coach of the year award. For more information, visit Chick-fil-APeachBowl.com or follow us on Twitter at @CFAPeachBowl and find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/CFAPeachBowl.