Aflac Kickoff CEO Gary Stokan says it is 'a huge opportunity' for Syracuse in opener vs. Tennessee

A first game, first announced in 2021 when Dino Babers was head coach, now comes to fruition. It will be a homecoming of sorts for his replacement Fran Brown, and you know Brown will have is team fired up in Atlanta August 30 (12:00 p.m. ET / ABC) in a bid to upset the favored SEC Vols.

Dec 31, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Peach Bowl President and CEO Gary P. Stokan addressed the gathered media ahead of the Joint head coaches Press Conference at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia on Dec. 31, 2024, ahead of the Peach Bowl College Football Quarterfinal Game on New Years Day. Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian joined Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham at the press conference. Mandatory Credit: Sara Diggins/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images | Sara Diggins/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Since 2008, Peach Bowl, Inc. has sponsored and operated its own 'Kickoff' to each college football season with the aptly named Kickoff Game, first sponsored by Chick-fil-A, and currently with Aflac.

For nearly 30 years, Gary Stokan has directed the Peach Bowl to become an economic force in Atlanta, not only for its post-season seat at the table in the College Football Playoff, but for also creating big-name matchups to open each succeeding college football season.

We spoke with Gary Friday afternoon for an upcoming edition of our The Juice on the Cuse podcast. The topics included why the time was right to invite Syracuse as the ACC representative to play in the game, and the logical pairing of ACC-SEC teams in Atlanta on an ongoing basis.

A great business relationship with John Wildhack landed Syracuse in Atlanta

Excluding the COVID season of 2020 (at North Carolina), the Orange have only played one Power 4 team in a season opener since a 2013 game against Penn State at MetLife Stadium. That was the 31-7 blitz of Louisville in the Dome in 2022. That's just two games in 12 seasons against non-Group of Five Conference or FCS teams over that span.

But as Stokan explained, shortly after his longtime business colleague at ESPN took over as AD at SU, they started discussing future schedules to line up a fit. He knew Wildhack was looking at an opportunity for a national TV date, a nice payday, and the chance for the program to make some noise.

"John's been a good personal friend from (the time) we negotiated deals at ESPN, I think an awful lot of John, he's a quality guy and does a great job," Stokan said. "Most businesses you deal with relationships. When John got the job we tried to see if we could make a match-up . They had an opening in '25 and we were able to put Tennessee on the other side."

The football version of the ACC-SEC basketball challenge series

The Syracuse-Tennessee meeting, followed the next day by Kickoff Game No. 2 between Virginia Tech and South Carolina in the same Mercedes-Benz Stadium, is a continuation of the strategy the Peach Bowl has used in years its postseason game is not hosting the CFP semifinals/championship game. Keep it simple with the two power conferences that dominate the Mid-Atlantic to Texas.

"We sold out 18 straight years with the Chick-fil-A bowl with ACC versus SEC matchups," Stokan explained. "Then we moved into the CFP bowl hosting, now quarters and semifinals. We said let's take that same formula of ACC versus SEC and move it forward for the Aflac Kickoff Games, and it has been a great success. We've had 17 out of 21 sellouts, changing the face of college football at the beginning of the season."