Florida-Georgia game to remain in Jacksonville through 2021
By Jason Parker
The annual Florida–Georgia football game is staying put in its Jacksonville home for at least the next six seasons.
One of the things that makes college football so great are the annual rivalry games that take place. Games like Michigan-Ohio State, Florida State-Miami and USC-Notre Dame are just some of the games each season that catch the eyes of all fans.
Some of the best rivalry games don’t take place on a college campus, including the annual Oklahoma-Texas game and the amazing Army-Navy battle. Though it hasn’t been in the spotlight much nationally of late, one of those neutral site battles that define college football is the Florida-Georgia game, taking place in Jacksonville almost every season since 1933 (with a two year campus break in 1994 and ’95).
With the game’s contract with the city up after this season’s game, there was talk that the Florida-Georgia showdown could be moving, possibly to the campuses on alternating years or even Atlanta. As it turns out, the game will remain on Florida’s First Coast for at least the next six years:
Florida-Georgia contract extension for 5 yrs is done, will be announced at City Hall Wednesday morning. Game here thru 2021.
— Eugene Frenette (@GeneFrenette) March 16, 2016
One called officially “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,” the Florida-Georgia game brings in millions of dollars and over 100,000 tourists to the city each year for the weekend of this SEC rivalry game. In recent years, some fans of the Georgia Bulldogs have expressed interest in moving the game closer to their campus more often (Jacksonville is only 80 miles northeast of the Florida campus in Gainesville).
At one time, the Bulldogs owned this series before Florida has won 20 of the last 26 games played between the rivals.
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