Gary P. Stokan lives by the motto that God’s gift to you is life, and your present to Him is maximizing your God-given talents. His use of his talents as a leader, CEO and President of Peach Bowl Inc. has been motivated by his need to follow his passion, create a vision and evolve and recreate himself.
Always be continually improving yourself, your business plan and your team,” said Stokan. “Know your business, your competition and be ready to challenge the norm, yourself and your team individually and collectively.”
Stokan has weathered years of change during his career at Peach Bowl Inc., including new events, sellout bowl games and the creation of the Peach Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament, which since 2007 has given $8.76 million to scholarships and charities.
Peach Bowl Inc. is an organization that owns and operates the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament, manages day-to-day operations of The Dodd Trophy and was the original recruiter and founding sponsor of the new College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
Under Stokan’s management, Peach Bowl Inc. events have generated an economic impact of $1.27 billion and $76.74 million in direct government tax revenue for the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia since 1999. Stokan’s visionary leadership efforts resulted in the relocation of the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta and the creation of Atlanta Hall Management Inc., which with Stokan serving as CEO and President, signed a 30-year licensing agreement with the National Football Association for Atlanta to build and operate the new Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame.
Stokan has 43 years of executive corporate sports management experience that includes his time at Adidas where he signed Herschel Walker and Mike Krzyzewski to contracts, while also managing a global marketing campaign for Kobe Bryant. He also held a position at Converse where he signed Karl Malone and extended Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
As a leader, Stokan believes that its essential to create both an internal and external corporate culture while declaring a leadership style to coach a team well. “Be creative and think ahead of the potential changes in the industry,” he said.
For his commitment to leading with a clear vision and by example in the sports management industry, Stokan has been named a Titan.
