Financial Details Provide Look At '07 Chick-fil-A Bowl Economics

Though Chick-fil-A Bowl organizers have not disclosed the financial results from last week's game, their "most recent report to the [IRS] gives an idea of the economics behind the 2007 game," according to Kristi Swartz of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. In '07, it "cost $10.24[M] to put on the Chick-fil-A Bowl and the other events associated with it," while "nearly $6[M] went to Auburn and Clemson," who played in the game. The bowl overall "brought in $12.31[M] in 2007 chiefly from ticket sales, TV rights and corporate sponsorships," as ticket sales alone "accounted for $4.26[M]." Atlanta Sports Council President Gary Stokan said that the average ticket price was $62.50, and added that the bowl "sells about 35,000 tickets locally, and about 92[%] of ticket holders renew their seats each year." Also in '07, "more than $2.66[M] came in from sponsors," which included Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Delta Air Lines, Xbox, BB&T, Georgia Power, Russell Corp. and Pontiac in addition to Chick-fil-A. The TV rights agreement with ESPN also "brought in $2.49[M], and $1.32[M] was brought in from social functions, including a golf tournament with alumni bowl participants, banquets and the game day FanFest." The following lists revenue and expenses for the '07 bowl as well as salaries for top bowl execs (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 1/8).

Revenue
Ticket Sales	$4.26M
Sponsorships	$2.66M
Social functions	$1.32M
Membership dues	$793,534
Merchandise sales	$137,241
Expenses
Reimbursement arrangements, primary salaries*	$931,608
Conferences, conventions, meetings	$975,771
Rent, accounting and finance services, information systems and human resources*	$312,400
Travel	$66,883
Salaries
Atlanta Sports Council President Gary Stokan	$372,194
Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce CFO Robert Hollis**	$212,348
Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce President Sam Williams**	$720,075
NOTES: * = Paid to Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (MACOC). ** = Salaries for Hollis and Williams paid for by MACOC and not through bowl revenues.