For more than 100 years, the annual meeting between the Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators has been one of college football’s biggest traditions.
Formerly dubbed “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,” the teams have met in Jacksonville, Florida, a neutral midpoint between the two campuses, since 1933 with few exceptions.
However, there will be another exception shortly.
The NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars recently announced plans to overhaul and renovate EverBank Stadium, where the team plays its home games and where the annual Georgia and Florida meeting has been held since 1996. As such, the stadium will not be able to host the rivalry game.
Many fans wondered what that meant for the rivalry’s future. Would the games be moved to on-campus settings during the renovations? Would another neutral site be found?
On Wednesday, we got our answer. According to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, the game will be played in Atlanta in 2026 and Tampa in 2027 before returning to Jacksonville in 2028.
Florida-Georgia game moving to Atlanta’s @MBStadium in 2026 & Tampa’s @RJStadium in 2027, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. The series takes a 2-year break from Jacksonville as EverBank Stadium undergoes renovations. It returns to Jax in 2028, source saidhttps://t.co/PsXlsWV8om
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 30, 2024
This arrangement seems the fairest for both teams, as Atlanta is 70 miles from Georgia’s campus in Athens, and Tampa is roughly 130 miles from Florida’s campus in Gainesville. It keeps the sites ‘neutral’ while not making it too hard for either fanbase to make it to. While the game in Atlanta will likely be mostly Georgia fans in attendance, the game in Tampa will likely be mostly Florida fans.
