Welcome to Dawg Debate, a mostly weekly feature during the season in which two of our Dawg Sports staffers debate key topics. Some will be related to all things Classic City while at other times taking a wider-ranging view, taking on critical issues such as whether or not Dan Mullen still thinks he is closing the gap on Kirby Smart and whether or not serving cole slaw on BBQ should warrant the forming of a tribunal.
This week, with Georgia set to take on Clemson inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the Aflac Kickoff Game the question is raised – has Georgia’s time in season-opening neutral site games run its course? Lugnut Dawg and Macon Dawg debate the topic.
Neutral-Site Games Help Georgia. There’s No Reason To Stop Playing Them
The Atlanta Sports Council is to be commended for making sure that it regularly has no problem of empty seats for its kickoff classic games. The tactic has been simple – make sure that your schedule of games regularly includes the fan base in your home state that’s become acclaimed for how well it travels.
The Chick-fil-A Kickoff game hit a stroke of luck in 2016 when its contest previously had Georgia and North Carolina scheduled. With excitement from Kirby Smart’s arrival already pegged at a high level, the game could not have asked for much better of a buildup. When the 2022 contest came, it was the opener for Georgia after its championship drought ended, and the turnout of Dawg fans taking over the stadium in what was basically a continued celebration from the January before highlighted why anyone in Atlanta would say no to Georgia being part of things.
That exposure, by the way, has Georgia in the conversation in the Atlanta media market for multiple months over the dead of the summer. If you are a recruit, you can’t help but not hear about Georgia football. It’s a recruiting advantage, and as we have seen, anything that benefits the Bulldogs on the recruiting trail is something Kirby Smart will never say no to.
The perpetual question for anything having to do with Georgia football is whether or not something helps it suceed. As long as season kickoff games provide a benefit, UGA should never say no to them.
– Lugnut Dawg
UGA Owes Its Fans As Many Home Games As Possible
I’d like to start and end my argument against neutral site games by pointing to the one group of stakeholders who do not benefit from these arrangements: college football fans.
For one, neutral site games require fans to cram themselves into a parking lot next to an NFL stadium in a forced act of pseudo-tailgating. If your normal pregame digs are a parking lot around Williams-Bruce Stadium this may be a trade up. But for most fanbases, including Georgia’s, it’s a hassle and a decided downgrade in pregame environment.
Second, it replicates the NFL experience, which is primarily about squeezing every possible dollar out of fans. High concession prices, parking fees, ticket prices, the entire package is designed to extract more money from fans with the promise of a marquee game that otherwise wouldn’t happen.
Except that, in the current era of college football, all of these games could absolutely be scheduled at on-campus venues. Georgia has been playing in Clemson on occasion for a century. It’s about as logistically taxing as a trip to Toccoa.
An argument specific to Georgia, one which is a bit #FirstWorldProblems is that the whole concept is getting a bit stale. Assuming the Bulldogs make the SEC Championship Game and national title game, they could end up playing four games in Atlanta this season. The alternative to playing a neutral site game in Atlanta would be playing in another NFL venue (Charlotte? Nashville? Jacksonville? New Orleans?). These are all places Bulldog fans are familiar with. Going further means shelling out more money. So the novelty of these games trades off in a one-to-one fashion with the financial hardship.
Finally, and this is probably utmost in my mind, these games impact recruiting. Georgia has an expensive and imposing recruiting infrastructure set up in Athens. If you’ve never seen how a game day visit for a top prospect goes, believe me when I tell you successful Latin American coups have been less organized. Georgia should take every opportunity to get blue chip players into the Classic City and parade them in front of national title trophies, through the world class weight room and rehab facilities.
These neutral site contests, while technically classed as “home” games half the time, prevent that. The issue is especially acute given that Georgia already surrenders a recruiting weekend to go to Jacksonville to play what’s left of the Florid Gators. I’m not saying Georgia’s at serious risk of losing its string of top three recruiting classes because of a lost recruiting weekend playing an ACC opponent in an NFL stadium. But I am saying the venture isn’t worth the risk. Humbly submitted,
– Macon Dawg, Esq.