The event formerly known as the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party is about to become the south’s largest traveling roadshow. Just days before the final episode of Georgia-vs.-Florida, news broke that the long-standing rivalry will be played in Atlanta in 2026 and in Tampa in 2027.
The news, first reported by Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, isn’t shocking or surprising, but it’s still a little depressing. Jacksonville’s EverBank Stadium (f/k/a TIAA Bank Field, EverBank Field, AllTel Stadium and Jacksonville Municipal Stadium) will undergo a long-planned major renovation during that time, making it unsuitable for the kind of earth-shattering celebrations that come with it every year . Florida-Georgia game.
The series has been played in Jacksonville almost every year since 1933. The 1994 and 1995 games were played in Gainesville and Athens, when the old Gator Bowl was demolished and EverBank was built to house the then-Jaguars.
Which leads to a rather obvious question: Why not play this glorious, vicious, sprawling, chaotic rivalry on the campuses of the two challengers? Campuses that are A) beautiful, B) home to some pretty nice stadiums of their own, and C) surprisingly close to the vast majority of students who attend these beautiful universities. So why take the show on the road?
You know the answer: money. So much money. As with the decision to move the annual Georgia-Georgia Tech game, another huge rivalry, to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a year, money trumps tradition and nostalgia.
Normally in home-and-home situations, the rivals trade revenue opportunities back and forth, with the home team claiming the dawg’s (or gator’s) share of ticket revenue. But at a neutral site, both teams share that revenue — and in the case of Georgia-Florida, the host city also provides some incentive money and takes care of logistics. It’s a win-win situation for both universities, even if it means a lot of traveling for the blue-orange and red-black faithful.
The contract between the schools, which runs through the 2025 game, calls for each school to receive $1.5 million per year from Jacksonville. That’s in addition to a 50-50 split of total ticket revenue, which has been reported at about $3.75 million annually in recent years. Jacksonville will also reimburse each team $60,000 for travel, lodging and game day expenses, while Georgia will get an additional $350,000 for air travel.
Two years ago, Georgia’s Kirby Smart grumbled about how hosting a big game outside of Athens cost him valuable recruiting opportunities, but that was only healthy and furious. Smart knows full well how much money will come from playing the game on a neutral site, whether it’s in Jacksonville, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in 2026 or at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa in 2027.
‘I think the parties involved have done an excellent job in making this happen [the stadium tour] Worth it for both universities,” Smart said Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference. “I’m excited about the opportunity to play it in two different locations, so that will be unique and maybe we’ll learn from those experiences.”
You don’t have to read between the lines to understand what “taking action and making it worth it” means. Jacksonville wrote a number on a piece of paper, Georgia and Florida added a zero and happily accepted it. Or something along those lines.
“Look, Kirby and I probably both agree that it would be great to play home and away, but we also know that there is a huge amount of revenue generated by playing this game at a neutral venue,” added Billy Napier from Florida. the world turns, and especially when it comes to the amount of revenue, there is a significant difference in the revenue that is generated.”
As enjoyable as it would have been for each campus to welcome their hated rival into their lair, the financial reality was impossible to overcome or avoid. But there are some small signs of hope for traditionalists.
The first round of the College Football Playoff will take place in the home stadiums of brackets 5 through 8 versus brackets 9 through 12. Schools have the option to move the game from their home stadiums, but on Wednesday CFP director Rich Clark indicated that none of the programs that could potentially host a game were willing to move it off campus. So there could be some playoff games in Columbus (Ohio), Athens (Ga.), College Station (Pa.), Clemson (SC) or other notable campus locations.
Florida-Georgia’s move to other NFL stadiums for two years isn’t necessarily a major blow to tradition. Hey, at least it means the Jaguars won’t be the second-best team in their own building for a while. But the more comfortable we are with college teams playing in NFL stadiums, the more likely it is that college teams will play more of their games in NFL stadiums.
This year’s version of Georgia-Florida kicks off Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The all-time series stands at 55-44-2 in favor of Georgia. The Bulldogs have won six of the last seven and are about a 16-point favorite to extend that streak.
