Welcome to ‘Dawg Debates, in which we debate the issues of the day in Bulldog Nation with a mix of style, grace, and intellect that disqualifies Lugnut Dawg and I from ever running for higher political office.
Today’s topic: the future of the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. As you have probably heard the game will be moving to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa while renovations are completed on Jacksonville’s EverBank Field in 2026 and 2027. But is that a good thing?
Pro: Playing the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Atlanta and Tampa in the short term was the right move.
Pro: Playing the Georgia/Florida game at neutral sites in 2026 and 2027 was the right move.
Look, I get it. All of us were looking forward to the chance to hang half a hundred on the Gators in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. And we would’ve loved the opportunity to avenge 1995. Those are perfectly valid sentiments. Sentiments which I share.
But I am also a realist, and I understand that nostalgia and school spirit are no longer the currency of the college football realm. Currency is now the currency of the land. And there’s simply more money to be made playing these games at NFL stadiums than there is to be made playing them on campus. In an uncertain college football business world neither university can really afford to leave money on the table at this point.
Additionally, something that I haven’t seen brought up in this debate is that there are actual benefits to playing these games at the selected temporary venues. As to Atlanta, it will be the first time in modern history that Georgia plays this game with anything that actually resembles a home field advantage. While there are a lot of Florida alums in Atlanta, I am comfortable that we will outnumber the Gators two to one inside the Benz. And we can leave them in Atlanta without gettting any of their Gator cooties on Athens. If you’re going to wrestle a pig, best not to do it in your own living room.
Also, some of you are telling on yourselves. If I saw you on Al Gore‘s Internet 12 years ago complaining that Jacksonville gives the Orange and Blue a home-field advantage, and therefore this game should be moved, I do not now want to see you protesting the chance to play the Fightin’ …uhh…..Whoever Replaces Billy Napiers squarely inside the Peach State. It is interesting how the reverence for the old Gator Bowl has increased over the past decade as Georgia has reasserted dominance in this series. Some of you know full well that you were ready to blow the place up during the Spurrier/Urban Meyer eras. It won’t kill anybody to let the professionals actually blow it up and replace it with something that has better bathroom and concession facilities.
For its part Tampa is a perfectly nice place to visit, as many a Bulldog fan with Outback Bowl merch in the back of the closet will attest. Busch Gardens is like Six Flags, but with tigers and rhinos. Which is to say, better. Plus this two year sojourn will likely go down as one of those things we talk about at tailgates a decade from now, a group bonding experience if you will. Let’s take the money, set the GPS for Hillsborough County, and beat some gator tail.
Con: Not playing the game on campus in Athens and Gainesville is an inexcusable missed opportunity
Lugnut Dawg:
Name a glitzy NFL stadium either in the southeast or that is climate-controlled, and Georgia either has played there or aspires to do so if it hosts a game within the CFP Playoffs.
Once Shad Khan’s palace is done, Georgia and Florida will play there in Jacksonville for many years to come. Whether it’s a bowl game, SEC title game, or even next year against Georgia Tech, the Dawgs will see the inside of Mercedes-Benz so much that it’s starting to become laughable.
In this era of college football with university presidents continuing to drive a train toward, chasing revenue will be a feature, not a bug. Georgia and Clemson have seen fit to agree that their rivalry should be played, in part, in kickoff classic games in Atlanta and Charlotte. Further west, AT&T Stadium somehow is a neutral site event for Arkansas and Texas A&M.
College football sees plenty of these games, and both the University of Georgia and Florida whiffed on the opportunity to give both fans a novelty – contesting this classic rivalry on campus.
Unless you made the one-time road trip in the 1990s to Gainesville, Georgia fans have likely never gotten the chance to weigh the merits or tailgating on the surface of the sun in Gainesville, though Columbia, SC probably might compare temperature-wise.
Florida fans? They have only been welcomed to Athens once as well.
Playing on-campus would have been a field of dreams-type moment for fans and both schools. Unfortunately, that won’t be an opportunity pursued.