Florida Football: Gators non-committal towards future of Georgia game

Jacksonville has been the home of the Georgia-Florida game since the beginning of time. Kirby Smart has been very vocal about moving the game onto campus sites while Billy Napier has taken a wait-and-see approach. It was announced in the summer that Florida football and Georgia would be allowed to host recruits at the game in Jacksonville.

While it seemed like at the time it would defuse talk of moving the game, Florida and Georgia released a joint statement Monday that was very non-committal about the future location of the annual game.

Florida Football: Time takes its toll

The annual game was originally settled in Jacksonville because it was the most central point for Florida and Georgia that both schools could get to via train. We have debated before the pros and cons of leaving the game in Jacksonville. 

While the game is iconic and is one of the last true neutral site games in college football, its location is inconvenient for Gator fans living south of Gainesville (and Georgia fans as a whole) while taking away a marquee home game from The Swamp every two years.

With this week being the week of the big game, Florida and Georgia released a joint statement about the future of the game.

"“The annual game between our two universities is an important tradition. At this time, both programs are focused on our current seasons. Typically both schools begin conversations regarding future games in the series as the last contracted game nears. We anticipate following that timeline. When those discussions take place, we will consider a multitude of factors including tradition, finances, future SEC scheduling models with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma, and what is best for both schools’ football programs overall.”"

Both schools are locked into Jacksonville through next year’s game, with the option to extend through 2025. This joint statement however doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement to stay. Both schools are probably putting pressure on the city of Jacksonville to give an even greater cut of the revenue to them. It should be noted that Florida football actually generates more revenue by having the game in Jacksonville (due to kickbacks) than it would by having the game on campus, but that doesn’t seem to be of concern to Smart.

The comment about future scheduling models seems like it would be a non-factor, assuming Florida and Georgia would still play each other every season. If the two somehow got split up and the game wasn’t annual, then it would make sense to play the game on campus.

Momentum seems to be at an all-time high to move the game from Jacksonville. If this current attempt isn’t successful, then the game will probably stay in Jacksonville for decades to come. And based on the comment released by both schools, the sun may set once and for all in Jacksonville.

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