FSU, Alabama To Make $5M A Piece For '17 Chick-Fil-A-Kickoff At Falcons' New Stadium

Florida State and the Univ. of Alabama are "in for a big payday" when they play in the '17 Chick-fil-A Kickoff in Atlanta, as the schools "will be paid" $5M each for the game, according to sources cited by Tom D'Angelo of the PALM BEACH POST. This is a "major increase" from the $3.5M FSU will make for playing Ole Miss in Orlando to open the '16 season. The "average payout for teams who have played in the nine previous kickoffs" has been $4.3M. The game will be the "first regular-season college game" at the new $1.4B stadium. FSU nets about $2.3M "per home game and expects to spend about $275,000 in expenses for the trip to Atlanta." The difference will be about a $2.5M "windfall for the athletic department," not to mention the "attention and focus on a game pairing two of the country’s most traditional and successful programs." With games scheduled for Orlando and Atlanta in '16 and '17, FSU is "now seeking to play a neutral site game in Jacksonville." But the "earliest that could happen" is '19 with the '18 non-conference schedule "already including a game at Notre Dame" (PALMBEACHPOST.com, 7/10).

UPWARD TREND: In Orlando, Matt Murschel notes Jacksonville hosting the nation’s "longest continuous rivalry when Notre Dame and Navy face off" at EverBank Field in '16 is just the latest in a "growing trend of cities looking to host lucrative neutral-site games." Dallas and Atlanta are two cities "that host neutral-site games annually, with more on the way." Orlando area officials said that the Citrus Bowl hosting FSU-Ole Miss in '16 is the first of what will "hopefully be an annual occurrence," with games in '17, '18 and '19 "in the works." With EverBank Field being the home of the Jaguars, scheduling more neutral-site games like Notre Dame and Navy on a regular basis "can be challenging while working around an NFL schedule." That is why outside of the Florida-Georgia game, "don’t expect another regular-season college game every year." Jacksonville Sports Council President & CEO Rick Catlett said of the growing trend of neutral-site games, “I don’t think there is any doubt that it’s going to happen. They need to be able to play a lot of teams that are one-off games that they don’t have to do home-and-home" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 7/10).

INCREASED OPTIMISM: In Jacksonville, Garry Smits notes the Notre Dame-Navy contest will "break an eight-year drought of the city hosting neutral-site games -- aside from the traditional Florida-Georgia game." There is a "high expectation that the city won’t have to wait another eight years" to attract teams. It "might not involve FSU, which has played in Jacksonville six times" since '02. Catlett said, “We’re going to see a lot of neutral-site games and it won’t necessarily be a Florida or FSU anchoring the game. This proves we’re going to go after a South Carolina, a Tennessee. … You’ll see a lot more of that.” Catlett added that there is "optimism because of a key component that was missing for several years: cooperation with the Jaguars" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 7/10).