“…This is beneficial for both sides in the equation.”
The future of the annual Georgia-Florida game, infamously referred to as ‘The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party’, has been a hot topic as of late with the news of the two universities’ agreement to keep the matchup in Jacksonville through 2025.
The programs were under contract through the 2023 season before accepting the option to keep the game in the city another two seasons.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has been vocal about his wish for the series to move to a home-and-home format.
“When it comes down to it, there’s a very, very basic element of everything comes back to, number one money and number two, recruiting and getting good players,” Smart said in October. “I firmly believe that we’ll be able to sign better players by having it as a home-and-home because we’ll have more opportunities to get them to campus.”
Smart says a change to the historic format depends on getting a Florida coach to ‘agree with him’.
Second-year Gators head coach Bill Napier gave his stance on the series on Tuesday at SEC spring meetings.
“We’re excited that the game is going to be in Jacksonville — with the announcement this week — three more years. You know, the reality is this is beneficial for both sides in the equation. It’s good for the city of Jacksonville as well,” Napier said. “I think there’s some economics that directly affect this decision, right? Ultimately, that’s what it comes down to. There’s advantages to being able to play a home-and-home. There’s also advantages to playing the game in Jacksonville. I think if we go forward, you know, we’ve got three more years of the current dynamic. We’re going to focus on that.”
It should be noted that the rivalry will look differently, at least in the 2025 and 2026 seasons, due to renovations to Jacksonville’s TIAA Bank Field that will begin in 2025 and last two years at a minimum, according to Jacksonville mayor Lenny Curry.
“The goal would be to play somewhere in Jacksonville,” Curry said. “Those discussions are happening, but two years is the goal. … I do know that they are considering certain sites that are local that could accommodate them for at least two years.”
