Ad Disclosure
Florida coach Billy Napier offers preferred location for games vs. Georgia
By Crissy Froyd
Published:
Florida and Georgia are preparing for the “World’s Largest Cocktail Party” matchup, one of the most interesting neutral site games of the season. It is also one that has been debated upon as potentially being a better game if it were a home-and-home series.
But there are a lot of factors that go into deciding whether this game should be played on campus at Georgia and at Florida as opposed to Jacksonville, where it is currently played. Head coach Billy Napier recently addressed that issue during the weekly Wednesday SEC teleconference.
“Kirby (Smart) and I probably both agree that it’d be awesome to play home and home, but we also know there’s a tremendous amount of revenue. There’s a significant difference in the revenue generated,” Napier said.
#Gators coach Billy Napier on Florida-Georgia remaining in Jacksonville: "Kirby and I probably both agree that it'd be awesome to play home and home, but we also know there's a tremendous amount of revenue. There's a significant difference in the revenue generated."
— Matt Hayes (@MattHayesCFB) October 30, 2024
Regardless, Jacksonville won’t be the home of the rivalry game for 2026 and 2027. EverBank Stadium will be undergoing renovations over that time frame, meaning that the site for the contest will have to change. For those years, it will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for 2026 and in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa for 2027, according to report from Brett McMurphy of The Action Network.
After that, the teams will return to Jacksonville, at least temporarily, in 2028. It will be interesting to see what exactly unfolds after that.
Crissy covers SEC football news for Saturday Down South.
