The 2011 Chick Fil A Kickoff Game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Boise St. Broncos will air Saturday, Sept. 3 on ABC or ESPN. UGA will receive $1.7 million for participating, and Boise St. $1.4 million. Not only will the Dawgs have a 90-minute drive to Atlanta instead of a 2,000-mile flight, the Georgia Dome will also be almost all red and black.
Macon.com’s Fletcher Page notes Boise will be given 7,500 tickets to sell to its fans — and they won’t be penalized if they can’t sell them all. Boise likely negotiated its allotment to include that stipulation, meaning they’re not entirely confident they can fill ten percent of the Georgia Dome even though they just sent about 12,000 to DC to play the Virginia Tech Hokies. VT and Boise were both top-ten teams this year, and UGA is unlikely to be ranked in the top twenty next year, so Boise may be foreseeing a lack of interest rather than a lack of support. If that distinction makes sense.
The Dome seats over 71,000. UGA is expected to have at least 40,000, and possibly more than 50,000, of those to sell. Add in metro Atlantans who’ll pick up tickets just to see the college football opener and get a look at the Broncos, most (but not all!) of whom would probably root for an SEC school over an upstart, and this is an even roadier road game for Boise than this year’s trip to play the Virginia Tech Hokies. But at least it’s indoors so Brent Musburger can’t freak out about the humidity.