Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl President & CEO Gary Stokan Takes Bowl To A Higher Level

* Second photo is Gary Stokan and Percy Vaughn, Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl Board of Trustees Chair and Vice President of KIA Motors America with the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl Trophy.

By Diane Larche'

Photos by Terrence Carter

When Gary P. Stokan talks about his parents and growing up in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his eyes sparkle and a smile immediately appears on his face.

Mr. Stokan, the President and CEO of Peach Bowl Inc., parent company of the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, one of the New Year's Six, the most important college football competitions in the nation, is reflecting on his life and how it was his parents' work ethic he saw growing up that is now ingrained in him and prepared him for major success in his adult life.

"My parents worked long. My dad didn't stop working at the Civic Arena until he was 82. My mom (who was a nurse) worked until she was 73. Great parents, they taught me a lot. That's Pittsburgh, work ethic, good people, give the shirt off your back," offers Stokan during an interview in a board room at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl offices in a complex off Northside Drive in Atlanta. "My Dad taught me if you are going to do something you are going to do it right the first time. My mom taught me to dream."
The 49th Chick-FIL-A Peach Bowl is one of two semifinal games in the College Football Playoffs this season. Each school gets $4 million. Next year it will host the final championship game at the new Atlanta Mercedes Benz Dome that will be completed in 2017. But this year on December 31, at 3 p.m. and aired on ESPN, the number one team in the nation the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the number four Washington Huskies at the Georgia Dome to have the right to go on to the championship game on January 9 at 8 p .m. at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. There they will have a rematch with Clemson Tigers for the 2017 championship. They defeated Crimson in the 2016 competition. Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl is now up there with the Rose, Fiesta, Orange, Sugar and Cotton Bowls. It has generated nearly $760 million dollars for Atlanta and Georgia since 1998.

Until he was 3 years old, Gary and his family lived on top of Stokan's bar owned by his uncle Fritzie Zivic in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh. Zivic won the welterweight championship in 1940 and fought Jake Lamoda and Sugar Ray Robinson during his boxing career. His uncle's likeness is still painted on the bricks of the building where Gary grew up. The Stokan family relocated to the Beechview area of Pittsburgh and it was there that he met at South Catholic High School Tia, his wife of 37 years. He played basketball everyday with the ball his mom and dad bought for him. Mrs. Stokan's brother is Bobby Delgreco who played baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies. Gary has a brother in Pittsburgh and one in Atlanta. He thought it was tough giving his two daughters Christie and Michelle away in marriage, but a trip in November back home was the most difficult for him, giving the eulogy for his beloved mother who passed away at 93. His dad was 97 when he passed away eight years ago.

Stokan is the key to the success of the Chick-Fila Peach Bowl. Ironically, a man with so much success in college football never played the sport. Instead, he played point guard in high school and on the North Carolina State University basketball team. He was heading back to Pittsburgh after graduating with a business degree when he was hired and started his career as an assistant basketball coach for his alma mater. He later tried his hands at sports marketing leaving Raleigh to open the Southeast office for Adidas and .excelling at Adidas and later Converse. He went on to own his own sports marketing agencies.

He vividly remembers a major one "that got away" during his time with German company Adidas.. He was courting a young pre- NBA Michael Jordan and put together a marketing campaign to give Jordan a $2.5 million endorsement contract with Adidas. Stokan pitched the deal to his bosses who turned him down. A fledgling Nike company did the deal with Jordan and made $126 million that year on Air Jordans. Stokan still gets ribbed by Jordan when he runs into him today. He did do major deals with Kobe Bryant and other sports greats.
Gary Stokan has been on a mission to make Atlanta a major college football town. He is responsible for bringing the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta. He convinced the owners to transfer here from South Bend , Indiana and the $80 million brand new state of the arts Hall of Fame building has had millions of visitors since it opened. He also created the Chick-fil-A Kick-Off Game played in September since 2008 and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Challenge golf tournament which annually provides more than $600,00 in scholarships and charity to university and coaches and the Atlanta Sports Awards.
While the college football players get many awards, Stokan is proud of an award he manages, the Bobby Dodd Award, college football's award
presented to the coach of the year. Stokan's sports involvement in Atlanta is vast having served as president of the Atlanta Tipoff Club and Naismith Awards named for Dr. James Naismith, founder of the game of basketball. The Naismith Trophy is presented annually to men and women college coach and basketball players of the year. He was also president of the Atlanta Sports Council from 1998-2009.
Last Tuesday players from the University of Alabama and Washington visited the old Ebenezer Baptist Church on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, a Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl tradition and one that Stokan feels is important for the college players to experience.. "These kids were not born when the civil rights movement was going on, " said Stokan. "This is the birthplace of Civil Rights. These kids sit next to one another and hear from civil rights leaders ." This year the athletes heard from a panel of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s fellow civil rights icons Dr. C. T. Vivian, Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young and Xernona Clayton.
Gary Stokan led Atlanta's efforts to brand the city the Sports Capital of the World drawing a range of sporting events to metro Atlanta. The Atlanta Sports Council hosted the Super Bowl XXXIV, the 2000 and 2012 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament; 2002,2007 and 2013 NCAA Men's Final Four, 2003 Women's Final Four; 2008 NHL All-star Game, 2000 MLB All Star Game, 2003 NBA All- Star Game, the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, USA Volleyball Junior Olympic Championships, U.S. Women's Figure Skating Championships and Wrestlemania 27. His leadership at the Atlanta Sports Council created an economic impact of over $2 billion and $25 million in direct government tax revenues for the city of Atlanta and State of Georgia. Stokan is ranked as one of the 100 most influential Atlantan and top 50 leaders in Atlanta hospitality. He is a nationally recognized speaker and serves on the board of the Children's Healthcare Sports, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has been honored with the Boy Scouts of America's Bobby Jones Award, the American Diabetes Associaiton Father of the Year and received the highest honor bestowed by Sigma Alpha Epsilon for a lifetime of career achievement.