From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
Aflac Kickoff Game
NCAA Football event
NCAA Football event
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Aflac Kickoff Game |
| logo | Aflac Kickoff Game logo.png |
| stadium | Mercedes-Benz Stadium |
| previous_stadiums | Georgia Dome |
| location | Atlanta, Georgia |
| years | 2008–present |
| sponsors | Chick-Fil-A (2008–2022) Aflac (2023–present) |
| prev_matchup_year | 2025 |
| prev_matchup_season | 2025 |
| prev_matchup_teams | Tennessee 45, Syracuse 26 |
| South Carolina 24, Virginia Tech 11 | |
| next_matchup_year | 2026 |
| next_matchup_season | 2026 |
| next_matchup_teams | Baylor vs. Auburn |
the college football kickoff game
| previous_tie-ins = | conference_tie-ins = South Carolina 24, Virginia Tech 11 The Aflac Kickoff Game (known as the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game until 2023) is an annual series of college football games played on the opening weekend of the NCAA Division I FBS season in Atlanta, Georgia. Organized by the Peach Bowl, the event coincides with Labor Day weekend in the United States. From its inception in 2008 until 2016, it was held at the Georgia Dome. The Georgia Dome's replacement, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, began hosting the games starting in 2017. Since 2012, there have been occasional doubleheaders in the series.
History
Organizers intended for the game to become a national spotlight game, on par with the Kickoff Classic held in the Meadowlands from 1983 to 2002, and the Disneyland Pigskin Classic in the 1990s. In 2008, ESPN's College Gameday broadcast from Downtown Atlanta, while ESPN corporate sponsors and local Atlanta-based companies featured prominent displays at Fanzones in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park.
Payout to each team depends on the amount of revenue gained in excess of the Kickoff's $5.5 million budget. In 2008, Clemson and Alabama were both expected to receive more than $2 million.
In 2017, the game permanently moved from the Georgia Dome to Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
On July 12, 2023 Aflac will be the new sponsor for the game.
Series summary
The first game, known that year as the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff, was played on August 30, 2008, the opening Saturday of the 2008 season. Alabama defeated Clemson 34–10.
Alabama returned to the Chick-fil-A Kickoff for the 2009 game, defeating Virginia Tech to begin the 2009 season.
Auburn and UCLA were initially slated to play in 2010, but Auburn officials later backed out of the offer. ABC attempted to replace Auburn with Georgia Tech, but the switch prompted UCLA to opt out entirely because the game would essentially be a home game for the Atlanta-based Yellow Jackets, with no scheduled return trip to Los Angeles. Finally, an agreement was reached in which LSU and North Carolina would match up, with the Tigers winning 30–24. The 2010 game also saw the introduction of a trophy awarded to the winner, the Old Leather Helmet.
The 2011 edition was the first Chick-fil-A Kickoff to feature a team that was not a member of the ACC or SEC, the two conferences with tie-ins to the Peach Bowl. Boise State of the Mountain West Conference, one of the most successful programs from a BCS non-automatic qualifier conference in recent years, defeated Georgia 35–21.
The Chick-fil-A Kickoff consisted of two games in 2012. Tennessee defeated NC State 35–21 on Friday night prior to Clemson defeating Auburn 26–19 in the headliner on Saturday. The dual-game idea was first mentioned in the Miami Herald in May 2010, when Gary Stokan, president of the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, told the newspaper that there was the possibility of having Alabama face Miami in a rematch of the 1993 Sugar Bowl.
The 2013 edition was a rematch of the 2009 game. Alabama, the two-time defending BCS national champions, once again defeated Virginia Tech, this time by a score of 35–10.
2014 would again feature two games. Ole Miss defeated Boise State 35–13 in a Thursday night game. Alabama would defeat West Virginia 33–23 in the headliner on Saturday afternoon. It marked the first ever meeting between Alabama and West Virginia in any sport.
The 2015 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, which moved to CBS that season, returned to a single game with the ACC's Louisville Cardinals taking on the SEC's Auburn Tigers. Auburn defeated Louisville, 31–24.
The 2016 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, which moved back to ESPN, featured North Carolina and Georgia, both making their second appearances in the kickoff series. The Bulldogs defeated the Tar Heels 33–24 in the final edition of the game played the Georgia Dome.
The 2017 event was the third doubleheader in the series. Alabama defeated Florida State on Saturday evening by a score of 24–7, serving as the Saturday Night Football season opener. Tennessee defeated Georgia Tech 42–41 in double overtime on Monday evening. The two games were the first in the series to be played in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Downtown Atlanta.
For the first time, the 2020 event was intended to include three games across two consecutive weeks, with a week 1 doubleheader between Florida State and West Virginia, followed by Georgia and Virginia. Auburn and North Carolina were to also play a week 2 game as part of the series. On July 29, 2020, all three games were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the ACC announced that it was restricting all teams to one non-conference game played in the team's home state only, and the SEC cancelled all non-conference play entirely.
Game results
| Season | Date | Winning team | Losing team | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | August 30, 2008 | Alabama Crimson Tide}};" | 24 Alabama Crimson Tide | 34 | Clemson Tigers}};" | 9 Clemson Tigers |
| 2009 | September 5, 2009 | Alabama Crimson Tide}};" | 5 Alabama Crimson Tide | 34 | Virginia Tech Hokies}};" | 7 Virginia Tech Hokies |
| 2010 | September 4, 2010 | LSU Tigers}};" | 21 LSU Tigers | 30 | North Carolina Tar Heels}};" | 18 North Carolina Tar Heels |
| 2011 | September 3, 2011 | Boise State Broncos}};" | 5 Boise State Broncos | 35 | Georgia Bulldogs}};" | 19 Georgia Bulldogs |
| 2012 | August 31, 2012 | Tennessee Volunteers}};" | Tennessee Volunteers | 35 | NC State Wolfpack}};" | NC State Wolfpack |
| September 1, 2012 | Clemson Tigers}};" | 14 Clemson Tigers | 26 | Auburn Tigers}};" | Auburn Tigers | 19 |
| 2013 | August 31, 2013 | Alabama Crimson Tide}};" | 1 Alabama Crimson Tide | 35 | Virginia Tech Hokies}};" | Virginia Tech Hokies |
| 2014 | August 28, 2014 | Ole Miss Rebels}};" | 18 Ole Miss Rebels | 35 | Boise State Broncos}};" | Boise State Broncos |
| August 30, 2014 | Alabama Crimson Tide}};" | 2 Alabama Crimson Tide | 33 | West Virginia Mountaineers}};" | West Virginia Mountaineers | 23 |
| 2015 | September 5, 2015 | Auburn Tigers}};" | 6 Auburn Tigers | 31 | Louisville Cardinals}};" | Louisville Cardinals |
| 2016 | September 3, 2016 | Georgia Bulldogs}};" | 18 Georgia Bulldogs | 33 | North Carolina Tar Heels}};" | 22 North Carolina Tar Heels |
| 2017 | September 2, 2017 | Alabama Crimson Tide}};" | 1 Alabama Crimson Tide | 24 | Florida State Seminoles}};" | 3 Florida State Seminoles |
| September 4, 2017 | Tennessee Volunteers}};" | 25 Tennessee Volunteers | 42 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets}};" | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 41 2OT |
| 2018 | September 1, 2018 | Auburn Tigers}};" | 9 Auburn Tigers | 21 | Washington Huskies}};" | 6 Washington Huskies |
| 2019 | August 31, 2019 | Alabama Crimson Tide}};" | 2 Alabama Crimson Tide | 42 | Duke Blue Devils}};" | Duke Blue Devils |
| 2020 | Games cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally North Carolina vs Auburn and Georgia vs Virginia | |||||
| 2021 | September 4, 2021 | Alabama Crimson Tide}};" | 1 Alabama Crimson Tide | 44 | Miami Hurricanes}};" | 14 Miami Hurricanes |
| September 6, 2021 | Ole Miss Rebels}};" | Ole Miss Rebels | 43 | Louisville Cardinals}};" | Louisville Cardinals | 24 |
| 2022 | September 3, 2022 | Georgia Bulldogs}};" | 3 Georgia Bulldogs | 49 | Oregon Ducks}};" | 11 Oregon Ducks |
| September 5, 2022 | Clemson Tigers}};" | 4 Clemson Tigers | 41 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets}};" | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 10 |
| 2023 | September 1, 2023 | Louisville Cardinals}}" | [](2023-louisville-cardinals-football-team) | 39 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets}}" | [](2023-georgia-tech-yellow-jackets-football-team) |
| 2024 | August 31, 2024 | Georgia Bulldogs}}" | 1 [](2024-georgia-bulldogs-football-team) | 34 | Clemson Tigers}}" | 14 [](2024-clemson-tigers-football-team) |
| 2025 | August 30, 2025 | Tennessee Volunteers}}" | 24 [](2025-tennessee-volunteers-football-team) | 45 | Syracuse Orange}}" | [](2025-syracuse-orange-football-team) |
| August 31, 2025 | South Carolina Gamecocks}}" | 13 [](2025-south-carolina-gamecocks-football-team) | 24 | Virginia Tech Hokies}}" | [](2025-virginia-tech-hokies-football-team) | 11 |
Rankings are from the AP Poll.
Future games
| Season | Date | Matchup | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | September 5, 2026 | Baylor Bears | border=none}}" | [](baylor-bears-football) |
Records
By team
| Rank | Team | Apps | Record | Win% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 19 | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 7 | 7–0 | ||||||||||||||
| Tennessee | 3 | 3–0 | ||||||||||||||
| Ole Miss | 2 | 2–0 | ||||||||||||||
| LSU | 1 | 1–0 | ||||||||||||||
| South Carolina | 1 | 1–0 | ||||||||||||||
| Georgia | 4 | 3–1 | ||||||||||||||
| Auburn | 3 | 2–1 | ||||||||||||||
| Clemson | 4 | 2–2 | ||||||||||||||
| Boise State | 2 | 1–1 | ||||||||||||||
| Louisville | 3 | 1–2 | ||||||||||||||
| Duke | 1 | 0–1 | ||||||||||||||
| Florida State | 1 | 0–1 | ||||||||||||||
| Miami (FL) | 1 | 0–1 | ||||||||||||||
| NC State | 1 | 0–1 | ||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 1 | 0–1 | ||||||||||||||
| Washington | 1 | 0–1 | ||||||||||||||
| West Virginia | 1 | 0–1 | ||||||||||||||
| Syracuse | 1 | 0–1 | ||||||||||||||
| North Carolina | 2 | 0–2 | ||||||||||||||
| Georgia Tech | 3 | 0–3 | ||||||||||||||
| Virginia Tech | 3 | 0–3 |
By conference
| Rank | Conference | Apps | Record | Win% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC | 21 | 19–2 | ||||||
| ACC | 20 | 3–17 | ||||||
| Mountain West | 2 | 1–1 | ||||||
| Pac-12 | 2 | 0–2 | ||||||
| Big 12 | 1 | 0–1 |
References
References
- "'Kickoff' aims for college football spotlight". sportsbusinessjournal.com.
- "No. 25 Tennessee pulls off remarkable 42-41 win over Ga Tech". [[ESPN]].
- "Aflac is new sponsor". [[Yahoo! Finance]].
- "Auburn-UCLA game in 2010 nixed". AL.com.
- Nestor. "Auburn A.D. (Jay Jacobs) Is Under Intense Criticism For Ducking UCLA". Bruins Nation.
- "A College Football Celebration". Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.
- "College Gridiron 365 – Football Blog – Orlando Sentinel". orlandosentinel.com.
- Tucker, Tim. "Three games amid a pandemic? Chick-fil-A Kickoff faces challenges, uncertainties".
- Tucker, Tim. (July 30, 2020). "Chick-fil-A Kickoff 'disappointed' all three planned matchups are off".
- "LSU Tigers vs. North Carolina Tar Heels Box Score". ESPN.com.
- "Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Virginia Tech Hokies Box Score". ESPN.com.
- "Duke vs. Alabama - Game Summary - August 31, 2019".
- "Alabama vs. Miami - Game Summary - September 4, 2021 - ESPN".
- "Auburn and Baylor slated for 2026 Aflac Kickoff Game".
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about Aflac Kickoff Game — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report