ATLANTA – There is obviously a different feel to the annual “World’s Largest Cocktail Party” this year thanks to the showdown between Florida and Georgia being played inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, compared to its usual home in Jacksonville.
Between the normal tailgate experiences that take place over the 24 hours to kickoff and the overwhelming feel of tradition for this showdown that happens on a yearly basis, it’s actually the fans who are feeling a bit underwhelmed by the game being played in Atlanta this season.
Thanks to ongoing renovations at EverBank Stadium, which is home to the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, this highly-contested game is calling Atlanta and Tampa home for the next two years.
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Sure, there isn’t much either team can do about its usual venue, with the game scheduled to return in three years along the Florida coast.
But fans of both teams were hoping that the opportunity to play this rivalry game in both Athens and Gainesville over these two years would have been on the table for the first time since the 1994 and 1995 seasons, which was also due to renovations in Jacksonville.
“I don’t really understand it, though I know it comes down to money,” Andrew, from Ocala, told OutKick. “It would have been pretty cool to make the trip to Athens and experience what it’s like to play this game in a home stadium.
“Honestly, I think they fumbled an opportunity to do something different. Where the heck are we supposed to tailgate here in Atlanta? Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited for the actual game, but I think we’re going to be missing out on the normal tailgate fun that we usually host in Jacksonville.”
Money, you say? Yes, it comes down to the almighty dollar.
If you were under the impression that these neutral site games were going away in favor of more home-and-home series in college football, I think you’re forgetting about how much each team is paid for these types of games.
When both universities put this showdown up for sale, the offers started pouring in. Sure, it helped that Atlanta is the home of the SEC Championship game (that could be ending this season), but it also came down to how much Falcons owner Arthur Blank was willing to pay each team to play this game inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Arthur M. Blank Sports and Entertainment, which runs multiple venues and events for the city of Atlanta, is paying each school $7.5 million to host the, while the city of Jacksonville is paying $1.5 million each over the next two years for their promised return to Florida.
Each team also received 29,071 tickets for this game, so it should still look like the annual showdown in Jacksonville. But, obviously that would not have been the case if this was played in Gainesville, with SEC guidelines noting that each visiting school receives around 4500-6000 tickets.
Starting to see why this game was never going on-campus? It should be noted that only the home team would see the revenue generated by this game if it were to have been played in either Gainesville or Athens.
When you factor in the cost of staging a game like this, it makes more financial sense to keep it at a neutral site.
But, that doesn’t take away the frustration from some fans who made the trip to Atlanta.
“I just don’t care for another game inside this darn stadium,” Thomas, a Georgia fan, told OutKick. “Hell, we should just turn this into our second-home with the SEC Championship game. I guess that’s actually a compliment to Kirby Smart and my Dawgs, but it would’ve been interesting to make a trip to Gainesville, even if I hate the Gators.
“I just hope it has the same feel as Jacksonville does every year. But yeah, I am excited to see us whoop Florida’s ass, but it would’ve been nice to do it in their home stadium at least once in my lifetime under these circumstances.”
And, there will be more neutral site games to come in the future in college football.
A city like Nashville is the perfect example; it already hosted Ole Miss and Louisville to start the season. After agreeing to cancel their home-and-home series, both Georgia and Florida State agreed to play inside the Tennessee Titans’ new stadium in 2029, with them preparing to take home a nice payday in the process.
There will be others as well, as Dallas and even Las Vegas are still in the market for a neutral-site game, and both have already hosted such games in the past.
So, with the CFP on the brink of expanding to 24 teams, there could be openings across what is known as “bowl season.”
“It might not be in the next two or three years, but we’re already looking at potential options to potentially host games at the beginning of each season,” one bowl game executive told OutKick.
“Playing more home games in an expanded playoff means lesser big-brand teams being available for our postseason matchups. We already know that adjustments are going to have to be made in some form, and I don’t expect us to just disappear like some want to report. It’s all about adjusting with the times, so maybe it could benefit us to open the season with our game, compared to ending it.”
Today, Georgia and Florida fans gather for what should be dubbed the “World’s Largest Indoor Cocktail Party’ in a city well-versed in hosting big games.