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    Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Tickets

    CFP quarterfinal · January 1, 2027 · Mercedes-Benz Stadium

    A College Football Playoff bowl under a retractable roof in downtown Atlanta, played on New Year's Day as a quarterfinal in the 2026 season.

    By the Good Seats editorial teamUpdated How we research
    Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA
    Photo: Atlanta Falcons, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Upcoming Peach Bowl dates

    Dates and live ticket listings appear here as soon as they are on sale. The guide below covers what to know before you buy.

    What the Peach Bowl is and its playoff role

    The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is a College Football Playoff (CFP) game played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta. It has been part of the playoff rotation since 2014, and in the 12-team playoff format it alternates between hosting a quarterfinal and a semifinal. For the 2026 season, it is a CFP quarterfinal on Friday, January 1, 2027. For the 2027 season, it is a quarterfinal again on Saturday, January 1, 2028.

    Because the teams come from the playoff bracket, there are no fixed conference tie-ins. The matchup is set by the CFP selection committee's seeding in early December, and for a quarterfinal it may not be final until the first-round games are played later that month. That timing shapes almost everything about buying tickets, covered below.

    The game was founded in 1968 as the nation's first charity bowl, created by a Lions Club member to benefit the Georgia Lighthouse for the Blind. The game is run by Peach Bowl, Inc., which also runs charitable programs such as Touchdowns for Children's.

    How tickets work for a playoff bowl

    Ticketing for a CFP game follows a different rhythm than a standard bowl.

    • Early sellouts. The bowl sells tickets to the public long before the teams are known. The January 2026 semifinal was announced as sold out in mid-October 2025, nearly three months before kickoff.
    • School allotments. Each participating school receives an allotment of tickets to distribute to its own fans. Those tickets reach fans only after the matchup is set, and some flow into the resale market.
    • Resale swings. On the resale market, prices before the bracket is set reflect general demand for a playoff game in Atlanta. Once the teams are known, they move with the fan bases: a short drive for an SEC or ACC school tends to push prices up, while a matchup between two distant teams can bring them down close to game day.

    The structural point: buying early means betting on an unknown matchup, and waiting means competing with two fan bases that just learned where they are going. Many buyers split the difference by watching the market in the days after the bracket is set.

    Where to sit at Mercedes-Benz Stadium

    Mercedes-Benz Stadium opened in August 2017 and replaced the Georgia Dome as the Peach Bowl's home. It seats 71,000 for football and can expand to 75,000. The roof is made of eight translucent, triangular panels that retract, so weather is not a factor in choosing seats, and the 58-foot-tall Halo video board circles the inside of the roof and is visible from nearly every seat.

    The three levels

    • 100 level (the lower bowl): closest to the field. Sideline sections between the 20-yard lines are the premium seats for a playoff game. Rows in the low teens and up see over the benches more easily than the first few rows.
    • 200 level (the middle tier): includes club spaces along the sidelines. For following a game, the 200 level sideline is the sweet spot between view and proximity.
    • 300 level (the upper deck): the most affordable seats. The sideline 300s give a full-field view, and the Halo board fills in replays. The upper end zone corners are the farthest seats in the building.

    Sitting with your fan base

    Seating guides disagree on which sideline the home team bench occupies for Falcons games, and bench assignments for a neutral-site playoff game are set by the bowl. Fans tend to cluster behind their team's bench and in the end zone near their band. If that matters to you, wait for the matchup and look for the bench assignment before buying.

    The stadium's guest guide and seating pages on mercedesbenzstadium.com list the club areas and accessible seating by section.

    Parade, FanFest and the day before the game

    The bowl stages fan events in the Centennial Olympic Park area the day before kickoff. For the December 2023 game between Ole Miss and Penn State, the schedule included:

    • A fan night at the Georgia Aquarium with a pep rally featuring both teams' cheerleaders, mascots and pep bands.
    • A free parade on the morning before the game, starting near Centennial Olympic Park Drive and Baker Street and winding around the park with floats, classic cars and marching bands.
    • FanFest at the Georgia World Congress Center, with food, games, merchandise and separate pep rallies for each team.

    The format varies by year and depends on the game's date and kickoff time. For a New Year's Day quarterfinal, look for the bowl's announcement of fan activities after the matchup is set.

    Getting downtown and getting in

    Mercedes-Benz Stadium sits on the west side of downtown Atlanta, next to the Georgia World Congress Center and within walking distance of Centennial Olympic Park and many downtown hotels.

    • MARTA: The Blue and Green lines serve the stadium through SEC District station (formerly GWCC/CNN Center) and Vine City station. For a sold-out game, MARTA is usually faster than driving.
    • Parking: The stadium operator lists more than 20,000 parking spaces within about a 20-minute walk. Buy in advance for a playoff game, since lots near the stadium fill early.
    • Bags: As of the 2026 season, the stadium follows the NFL clear-bag policy: clear bags up to 12 by 6 by 12 inches or a one-gallon clear freezer bag, plus a small clutch no larger than 4.5 by 6.5 inches. The stadium recommends bringing no bag at all.
    • Payment: The stadium has been cashless since 2019, and tickets are mobile-only.

    Check the stadium's bag policy page before you go, since rules can change between seasons. Every GoodSeats order is backed by a 100% guarantee, which is worth having for a game where tickets change hands late.

    From Grant Field to the playoff: Peach Bowl history

    The Peach Bowl has moved through four Atlanta stadiums: Grant Field at Georgia Tech from 1968 to 1970, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium from 1971 to 1992, the Georgia Dome from 1993 to 2016 and Mercedes-Benz Stadium since 2017.

    Name changes

    • Peach Bowl (1968 to 1996)
    • Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (1997 to 2005), when the Atlanta-based restaurant chain became title sponsor
    • Chick-fil-A Bowl (2006 to 2013), with the Peach name dropped
    • Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (2014 to present), with the original name restored when the game joined the playoff rotation

    The bowl sold out 17 straight years from 1998 to 2013, before it joined the playoff.

    Playoff-era games

    • 2016 season semifinal: Alabama beat Washington 24 to 7.
    • 2017 season: UCF beat Auburn 34 to 27.
    • 2019 season semifinal: LSU beat Oklahoma 63 to 28.
    • 2022 season semifinal: Georgia beat Ohio State 42 to 41 in front of 79,330, the stadium's football attendance record.
    • 2024 season quarterfinal: Texas beat Arizona State 39 to 31 in double overtime on January 1, 2025.
    • 2025 season semifinal: Indiana beat Oregon 56 to 22 on January 9, 2026, before 75,604.

    Tips for traveling fans

    • Book a downtown hotel early. Walking to the stadium avoids traffic and parking entirely, and downtown rooms tighten quickly once the matchup is set.
    • Ride MARTA from the airport. Hartsfield-Jackson is on the rail system, so fans flying in can reach downtown and the stadium without a car.
    • Plan for New Year's Eve crowds. A January 1 game follows a busy night downtown. Allow extra time on game morning.
    • Leave the jacket question to the roof. When the roof is closed, the game is played indoors, so dress for the walk to the gates, not for three hours in the cold.

    Frequently asked questions

    Is the Peach Bowl part of the College Football Playoff?

    Yes. It has been in the CFP rotation since 2014. In the 12-team format it alternates between a quarterfinal and a semifinal, and it is a quarterfinal on January 1, 2027, for the 2026 season.

    Where is the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl played?

    At Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta, its home since 2017. Earlier games were played at Grant Field, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and the Georgia Dome.

    Why does the Peach Bowl sell out before the teams are known?

    As a playoff game in a large stadium, it draws general demand regardless of matchup. The January 2026 semifinal was announced as sold out in mid-October 2025. After that, tickets come from school allotments and the resale market.

    Does Mercedes-Benz Stadium have a roof?

    Yes. It has a retractable roof made of eight translucent panels, so the game is played indoors when the roof is closed.

    What is the bag policy for the Peach Bowl?

    As of the 2026 season, the stadium allows clear bags up to 12 by 6 by 12 inches, one-gallon clear freezer bags and small clutches up to 4.5 by 6.5 inches. Check the stadium's bag policy page before you go.

    Why was it called the Chick-fil-A Bowl?

    Chick-fil-A became the title sponsor in 1997, and from 2006 to 2013 the game was officially the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The Peach name returned in 2014 when it joined the College Football Playoff.

    Sources