On the finish of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Sport Saturday in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, these working the occasion will ship The Previous Leather-based Helmet Trophy to Oregon or to Georgia.

OK, it’ll be Georgia.

The Bulldogs stay loaded regardless of a report 15 gamers taken throughout final yr’s NFL Draft after they received the nationwide championship. As well as, Oregon gamers will encounter 4 completely different time zones alongside the way in which to city, however the Bulldogs will play this “impartial” recreation simply 71 miles from their residence in Athens.

Not that the loser (, Oregon) will probably be a loser.

All people will win.

Such is life for this preseason bowl recreation in a metropolis, not solely famous because the capital of Georgia however of school soccer.

No surprise Chick-fil-A Kickoff officers switched in recent times from one in all these video games each fall to 2. They invented this complete idea of impartial cities internet hosting preseason bowl video games in 2008, and their goal was to entice main school soccer packages to vary their scheduling mindset perpetually. They wished these groups to open with an enormous opponent as a substitute of a ho-hum one.

It labored . . . for everyone.

At the very least for everyone surrounding one in all these Chick-fil-A video games.

Chick-fil-A Kickoff officers instructed Forbes.com final week their bowls have distributed $101.2 million in group payouts for a median of $5.9 million in complete group payouts per recreation since their inception. In addition they stated that latter quantity was larger than 30 of the 45 bowls (together with all-star video games) in the course of the 2021-2022 season for Soccer Bowl Subdivision colleges (FBS).

That’s for starters.

Now the place ought to we proceed with this monetary success story in school soccer displaying extra indicators of exploding than imploding?

How about recruiting?

In line with Bleacher Report, solely Florida and Texas produced extra school soccer expertise than Georgia for the 2022 recruiting class.

“That’s one instance why each groups win by taking part in (within the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Sport), and the opposite instance is, since we’ve got such a big alumni base in Georgia (for a slew of groups), plenty of the coaches and (athletics administrators) wish to come over right here, as a result of donor cash is big in Atlanta,” Gary Stokan stated, sifting in his thoughts by means of the 24 years he has served as CEO, president and visionary of Peach Bowl, Inc., which runs the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Sport.

Stokan added, “Usually, for the Saturday recreation (versus the Monday recreation this yr that includes Clemson and Georgia Tech), each Friday evening, there will probably be an AD and a president at our reception. Then they’ll depart for an enormous donor dinner that the varsity has organized for the donors right here in Atlanta.”

As for different winners . . .

You’ve the touring followers of the collaborating groups, together with those that hug most issues school soccer.

“It’s a win for them, as a result of in the event that they wish to purchase a ticket, they’ll come to the sport,” Stokan stated, referring to the common attendance by means of the years of 67,064 for Chick-fil-A Kickoff video games, which his officers stated completed the 2021-2022 season outdrawing 43 of the opposite bowls.

“For the followers who can’t make it right here to Atlanta, they nonetheless get an opportunity to look at an awesome recreation on TV to open the season,” Stokan stated, and in keeping with Chick-fil-A Kickoff officers, the scores validate Stokan’s remark.

These officers stated the 2021 Chick-fil-A Video games drew 9.1 million viewers for an all-time complete of greater than 87.5 million viewers.

Then there are the coaches. For many years, they pushed for the bosses of their powerhouse school soccer packages to open their seasons in opposition to pitiful opponents for simple victories.

There’s nothing straightforward about Saturday’s recreation.

Georgia is No. 3 within the Related Press ballot to Oregon’s No. 11, however each groups care solely concerning the rankings at season’s finish. They want to change into one of many 4 members of the School Soccer Playoff.

We’re again to those Chick-fil-A Video games.

“The coaches win, due to the good recruiting, but additionally due to the good alternative since, as coaches say, the most important enchancment they see of their groups is from Week 1 to Week 2,” Stokan stated. “So now with these video games at first of the season, they’ve stay movie. They’re not taking part in in opposition to one another (in scrimmages), and the stay movie permits coaches to educate gamers up individually the following week and collectively as a group.

“They might be taking part in on this recreation in opposition to any individual who’s going to be an all-conference participant, an All American — perhaps a future NFL participant as a substitute of any individual from a (Soccer Championship Subdivision) college.”

Stokan’s level? The gamers concerned with these video games are extra centered throughout spring, summer time and fall exercises.

“The gamers win, as a result of they prefer to play in these big-time stadiums and in big-time video games in opposition to big-time opponents, and the town of Atlanta wins,” Stokan stated, mentioning his individuals have decided their 14-year-old Chick-fil-A video games have had a monetary impression on the town of $512.8 million and $34.3 million in mixed direct state and native tax income.

So, as a substitute of Stokan saying “Go Bulldogs” or “Go Geese,” he’s screaming within his head: “Go everyone.”