Peach Bowl Inc., a driving force behind bringing the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta, will expand its support of the downtown attraction with an $8 million donation.
The contribution will be made from Peach Bowl reserves and will extend the bowl organization’s sponsorship of the Hall of Fame for 10 years. It will bring the Peach’s total investment in the Hall of Fame to $13 million, following a $5 million donation in 2010.
“This is a way for us to do something good for college football, good for the city and good for our brand as well,” said Gary Stokan, president and CEO of Peach Bowl Inc., which runs the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Chick-fil-A Kickoff games and related events.
“We think it’s important to continue to support the College Football Hall of Fame. This is a donation in support of making it grow and thrive and prosper.”
The investment “means a tremendous amount for us,” College Football Hall of Fame CEO Dennis Adamovich said. “It gives us the ability to plan for the future.
“These guys were the originators of bringing the Hall here,” Adamovich said of the Peach Bowl organization, “and they’ve shown support all along the way.”
In 2002, Stokan initiated the effort to move the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta from South Bend, Ind. A deal was reached with the National Football Foundation in 2009, construction began in early 2013, and the facility opened in August 2014.
Some of the Peach’s $8 million contribution will be used to refurbish the Hall of Fame’s 45-yard-long indoor playing field, which will be called Peach Bowl Field. It will get new turf, an enhanced Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Skill Zone and a goal post-mounted camera to digitally capture fans’ field goals or other football exploits there.
Also, the Hall of Fame will create exhibits related to the Peach Bowl and Chick-fil-A Kickoff games. An annual fan event leading into the season’s opening weekend will be centered around the Hall of Fame and will be called Peach Bowl FootballFest.
Peach Bowl Inc. becomes the first of the Hall’s founding sponsors to renew and expand its partnership.
“We feel the right thing to do if we have success is to give back to college football,” Stokan said.
“The Peach Bowl continues to provide the foundation for our organization to grow,” Adamovich said. “We look forward to the new experiences this extended partnership will provide.”
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