Atlanta Submits Champions Bowl Bid

Chick-fil-A Bowl President Gary Stokan has submitted a bid for the city of Atlanta to host the Champions Bowl, a postseason college football bowl game that will pit the SEC against the Big 12, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The AJC lists New Orleans and Arlington, Texas, as frontrunners to host the game, with Atlanta considered a long shot:

Atlanta already hosts -- and wants to continue to host - the SEC Championship game annually. The SEC might be reluctant to put back-to-back events in the same city, and the Big 12 might be reluctant to put the new event on what could be regarded as an SEC home field.

Arlington is clearly a frontrunner because it's the home of Cowboys Stadium, a brand new, state-of-the-art facility with a capacity to hold 100,000-plus fans. That means more ticket revenue and a more-or-less neutral site, as opposed to Atlanta, which is solidly in SEC country.

The Champions Bowl is set to begin play in 2014.

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