Georgia, Florida release joint statement on future of rivalry, location
Georgia and Florida released a joint statement on Monday regarding the future of the schools’ annual rivalry game and the location of the contest. The two teams have played in Jacksonville, Fla. every year since 1933 with the exception of two seasons (1994, 1995), but the conversation arises almost every year around this time whether it would every move to a home-and-home instead of being played at a neutral site every season.
“The annual game between our two universities is an important tradition. At this time, both programs are focused on our current seasons,” the schools said in the statement. “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.”
Georgia and Florida are locked into a contract in Jacksonville through 2023 with an option to extend two more seasons for 2024 and 2025. Last month at the UGA Athletics Association Board of Directors meeting, University of Georgia president Jere Morehead said that the extension had not been discussed yet.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has been one of the biggest advocates for moving the game to a home and home during his time in Athens. Last week during the Bulldogs’ bye week, Smart gave a candid statement weighing the pros and cons of keeping the game in Jacksonville versus moving it to a home and home.
“There’s really quality benefits to both,” Smart said. “You guys, I get it, you want to make a story. You need a story. Everybody wants to talk about it. It’s really not a big debate for me. It’s been made really big by the media because they’ve made it out to be a really big deal. I enjoy the pageantry of going down there and playing. I enjoyed it as a player. I enjoy tradition. I enjoy all those things.”
“When it comes down to it, the very very basic element of everything comes back to, number one, money, and number two, recruiting and getting good players,” he continued. “I firmly believe that we’ll be able to sign better players by having home and home because we’ll have more opportunities to get them to campus. But I also think there’s a financial factor that factors into that with having the game there and being able to make more money for the university possibly there. So you have to weigh both of those and make really good decisions.”
No. 1 Georgia and unranked Florida are set to meet this season at TIAA Bank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. this coming Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
