Georgia-Florida game moving to Atlanta? World’s Largest Cocktail Party mulls moving up I-75
UGA fans tailgate during the "World's Largest Cocktail Party," aka the Georgia-Florida game, in the RV parking lot outside Jacksonville's Alltel Stadium. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
Tradition defines the Georgia-Florida game as technically being played on neutral turf – “neutral” being Jacksonville and Jacksonville being in Florida.
“No, there are no talks going on,” Evans said Friday. “Gary Stokan of the Atlanta Sports Council has expressed interest in and approached us about moving the game to Atlanta. That’s the extent of it. I wouldn’t call it talks.”
“We’re not asking to move half the games or all of the games to Atlanta,” Stokan said. “We respect tradition. We’re just looking for one of the four.”
Georgia’s contract to play Florida in Jacksonville — a location that has long rankled Dogs fans — expires next year.
“Obviously, we have heard of these kind of discussions before,” Florida Athletics Director Jeremy Foley said. “We have been strong proponents of keeping the game in Jacksonville and that has not changed.”
WHAT’S YOUR OPINION? Should the Georgia-Florida game call the Dome home every four years or is the annual trip to Jax just too much of a tradition to alter in any way, shape or form? Economically speaking, how much of a boost to the metro economy would this be? Would you be as inclined to go to the game in Atlanta?
Related story: Evans dismisses talks of moving Ga.-Fla. to Atlanta
Photos: ATL vs. JAX: Who’d be the better Ga-Fla host? Vote for the better city!
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365 comments Add your comment
Huh?
March 20th, 2009
10:11 am
I will only say this. When two teams are as evenly matched as Georgia and Florida have been for the past 7-8 years or so the line between winning and losing is razor thin. Every little advantage helps. I think Florida has a definitive advantage playing at a “neutral” location that is so close to their campus. You are simply kidding yourself if you think otherwise.
This does not apply to the 90’s. Florida just waxed us. It doesn’t matter where the game was played. They had the better talent and the better coaching. But I don’t think that has been the case this decade. Other than last year, the games have been very close and very competitive. It always seems like Florida comes in fresh and relaxed and Georgia is road weary. I’m just saying. Hate on haters…
Keith
March 20th, 2009
10:13 am
Don’t they call it the Georgia-Florida game because G comes before F in the alphabet?
Speed Racer
March 20th, 2009
10:13 am
Leave it in Jacksonville. Period. End of discussion. Has been there since 1933.
Monty
March 20th, 2009
10:14 am
As Dawg who lived in Jacksonville from 1968 to 1997, there was never a problem with the game while Doooley was winning most of them. If we start showing up and playing every year and not gagging a fur ball, things will be fine. Moving the game will destroy the unique character of the event.
jaxdawg
March 20th, 2009
10:14 am
I think it should rotate every year. I live in jax and love the game being here, but it would give me a good reason to take a nice road trip! I’m all for it…Go Dawgs!!
gonetothegolfcourse
March 20th, 2009
10:14 am
Damon says, “Sure we would love to move”, but under his breath he is looking for more money from the people in Jacksonville. There would be a woman President of the USA before this game is moved out of the Gator Bowl.
gatorhead1013
March 20th, 2009
10:14 am
HBTD – uh, most of UF’s players are from Florida. I think there are 8 on the roster from the state of Georgia.
Otto
March 20th, 2009
10:15 am
Wreck it isn’t UGA’s home field. If I count correctly UGA is 4-3 in the dome. However, I do wish the championship game would move to Florida, New Orelans, or Nashville.
ab
March 20th, 2009
10:17 am
I would be for the every four year gig, but would not tailgate at Dome, too many people looking for “spare change”!
RxDawg
March 20th, 2009
10:17 am
Nah, leave it in Jacksonville.
1. The ones yelling for it to be in Atl have never been down there.
2. It’s something for all the fans in south Georgia. Let them have that one game. It broadens our fan base by an enormous amount.
3. The game being in Jacksonville is NOT why we lose to UF so much. Don’t use it as an excuse.
4. The only other game of it’s kind (that I know of) is the Red River Shootout. How big is that game? Pretty big if you ask this non-fan of either team. UGA vs UF is the same.
Brandon
March 20th, 2009
10:18 am
Move the game! The GA FL game is a home game for UF and a away game for UGA.
AltamahaDawg
March 20th, 2009
10:18 am
The only thing wrong with J-ville is that we cannot bring the lesser team and win the game.
BTW, its a totally false argument that FL gets to practise all week and just skip over on game day, and UGA has to travel for days and spend nights away.
Both team arive on Friday and spend the night in town. I’m guessing a couple of hours extra travel isnt that stessful on a highly trained 19 yr old athlete.
Plus now that the airstrip is longer in Athens, and they are starting to fly direct for away games…travel is about the same. Bus an hour, fly an hour. It probably has more to do with blocking and tackling than this.
Clay
March 20th, 2009
10:18 am
The whole problem is the bye week before the game. If UGA had a bye like Florida does almost every year the rivalry over the last 20 years would be evenly matched. UGA traveled to Baton Rouge before last year’s game, and while LSU wasn’t exactly a powerhouse (the folks on North Avenue might disagree) it was still a tough road trip. Schedule a bye week before the game for five years and see what happens to the record over that time. Keep it in Jacksonville. Atlanta sucks.
SimpleDawg
March 20th, 2009
10:18 am
Years ago Auburn decided that playing the “Iron Bowl” in Birmingham every year was not a neutral site game…..it was a home game for Alabama in a different stadium. We should realize the same thing…..Spurrier understood the dynamics of playing in Jacksonville, Fl, in a stadium called the Gator Bowl…..neutral site ? Hogwash ! Granted, Jacksonville is a more appealing destination than Birmingham, but it’s still a home game for Florida…every year. If you want to go to Florida, go on vacation, in the summer, when you can go to a good beach. If you want to go to see UGA play UF, don’t get so submerged the periphery. Either go to a home and home schedule, or alternate the Georgia Dome every year….their game will be in the Gator Bowl and our game will be in the GEORGIA DOME !
This isn’t that difficult to understand….would you rather have a fair shot at winning at least every other year or would rather give a HUGE advantage to Florida each year just so you can visit a second rate coastal city ?
Jeremy
March 20th, 2009
10:18 am
I agree with SC Dawg. The problem is capacity. As it stands now with an 84,000 seat setup in Jacksonville I didn’t even get the option to order Florida tickets with just under 9,000 points. I wouldn’t even want to see the point cutoff at the dome.
I always hear the argument of the game being 70 miles from Gainesville and 350 or so from Athens. The travel time disparity for UGA could be largely fixed if we could ever figure out a way to get a longer runway in Athens.
I live in Atlanta, but I’ve always viewed this as a unique mid year bowl like trip that not very many schools have. I have never blamed our problems in this game on Jacksonville. I don’t think the Georgia dome would have changed a lot of our outcomes in the last 15 years or so.
Take the school locations out of it and look at the states alone from North Georgia to South Florida this is the closest thing to a center point as you can get. The Florida fan living in the Miaim area drives just about as far to this game as the UGA fan in Atlanta.
This is a unique tradition and a lot of fun. Leave it the way it is.
GW
March 20th, 2009
10:18 am
Give up 10,000 seats by moving to the Dome? STUPID. 5,000 Georgia fans shut out of tickets. If UGA is intent on leaving J’ville they may as well go home and home, Athens and Gainesville. Why play a game with 74,000 seats when you have 93,000 60 miles away?
cajdawg
March 20th, 2009
10:19 am
Home and home is the ultimate answer.
Please stop refering to the Red River Rivalry as a similar example. The series began in 1900 and has been played in Dallas since 1912. Dallas was chosen as a “neutral” site since it is situated approximately halfway between Austin, Texas and Norman, Oklahoma — the locations of UT and OU, respectively. Texas isn’t stupid enough to play this game in Oklahoma City and Oklahoma isn’t stupid enough to play in San Antonio. YET WE PLAY THIS GAME AN HOUR FROM GAINSVILLE EVERY YEAR. HOW FREAKING STUPID ARE WE?
Jacksonville Loves the Dawgs
March 20th, 2009
10:19 am
You people are idiots…UGA will do NO better in Atlanta than he has in Jacksonville. The talent levels won;t change, just the venue…if anything, the Dome is Florida’s home field. They have played there more times than the Dawgs have. You Dawg fans are going to regret it when we get beat and we can’t go back and drink away our sorrows at the beach having fun, instead we’ll be sitting in our living rooms mourning our lost and having no fun whatsoever. Thanks for voicing your opinions to ruin a great football tradition. Sorry Gators that some UGA fans just can’t see how lucky we are to play this game and may ruin it for y’all too!
dawgsrule
March 20th, 2009
10:20 am
NO! This game is perfect in Jacksonville—we go down for 3 days every year and stay at St. Simons—it wouldn’t be the same in downtown Atlanta. Having it in Jax has nothing to do with how Ga will play in the game. Plus, downtown atlanta is a terrible venue–too many thugs and nothing to do.
KB
March 20th, 2009
10:20 am
Are you kidding me? Georgia fans was just fine with the game being in Jville until they started getting their butts kicked on a regular basis. As I recall, when the game was played in Athens the pooches get their backs broken. Jville, Gville, Athens, the Dome or in somebody’s back yard in Utah, it does not matter were the slaughter takes place.
dude
March 20th, 2009
10:20 am
Atlanta Sux. It’s just not a college football atmoshpere. I’ve been to the Jacksonville game twice & if you’ve never been then you probobly would want it closer to home. It’s not just a game it’s an event. I just don’t think Atlanta could come close. What would you do in Atl.? Go to “underground”, or tailgate at the Varsity like the Tech. fans? There’s a reason it’s underground. We’re trying to bury it. I like to stop by the Varsity to eat, but not to tailgate.
Jacksonville Loves the Dawgs
March 20th, 2009
10:21 am
ANd for all the Dawg fans saying Jacksonville isn’t neutral, where were y’all when the Dawgs were waxing Florida every year? The site sure seemed neutral then…
Bufordbulldog
March 20th, 2009
10:21 am
Play the Game in Athens and Gainesville.
jed
March 20th, 2009
10:22 am
why support Jacksonvill or Atlanta? Move home game to Athens. Ticket holders will have better seats. PLEASE, NO ATLANTA DOME! P.S. I own a condo in Palm Coast.
jed
March 20th, 2009
10:22 am
Enter your comments here
ya
March 20th, 2009
10:23 am
i, personally, think winning is more important than tradition and let’s face it, jacksonville may be “neutral” in regards to the amount of fans they let in, but trust me, it’s an advantage for the team that doesnt have to travel as far. i would like to see how the gators had fared the last 20 years had they been forced by tradition to come up to the dome every year. to solve this, i just simply say alternate home and away just like anybody else. if u think this will take away from the electricity of the rivalry, you’re sadly mistaken, but if tradition and money are really that important, than i say the FAIREST way to do it is alternate neutral sites playing at the dome one year and in jacksonville the next.
AntiochDawg
March 20th, 2009
10:23 am
Horrible idea! The Georgia Dome is not worthy of this college football classic. Approx 15K less seats and inside college football in the fall is stomach wrenching. One of the reasons I’m not stressing to see the Falcons every Sunday is their home venue. Put a Heinz field type facility in Atlanta and watch them come. Leave UGA UF in Jax.
Walker Hears Voices
March 20th, 2009
10:23 am
Idiots. How can Okl and Texas play in Texas and split the series the past 40 years with neither complaining? There was no talk in the 70’s about moving it. Win more than 3 games in 19 years and it would be enjoyable. Less tickets and no place to tailgate, brilliant!!!
Born in Georgia moved to Florida to get away from you crying hicks.
tankandtank
March 20th, 2009
10:23 am
I would love to see it home and home but since I am from Glynn county I would hate to see the revenue lost there every year with all the dawg fans staying on Jekyll and St. Simons.
Boston Williams
March 20th, 2009
10:23 am
Why not make it a true home and away deal? Nobody cares about the game except FL and UGA fans anyway. Everybody is watching their own team on Sat. afternoon.
The GM
March 20th, 2009
10:24 am
The Georgia Dome is a joke for football, bad sight lines, seats to far from the action, and no chance to enjoy the weather and its impact on the game. It makes no sense to play football indoors in the South. The sooner there is a stadium in Atlanta similar to the one that Dallas has for the Cowboys the better.
DawgPileTime
March 20th, 2009
10:24 am
Like the tailgating or events leading up to the game in ATL would be anywhere near as fun or enjoyable as Jacksonville. Ever been downtown other than to a game, there is nothing else to do at night. Boring! Buckhead was killed off. I know, we could all go to the Coke museum or aquarium. Yeah, that sounds like fun while me and my buddies are trying to relax with a few cold ones.
Truedawg
March 20th, 2009
10:25 am
YES, YES, YES…….Anything is better than a home game for the Gayturds!!!!!
Ben
March 20th, 2009
10:25 am
Look, I’m all for “tradition,” but I would like to remind Georgia fans that UGA and Auburn playing in Columbus was once a “great tradition.” Do they play in Columbus anymore? No. Is that a problem? No. If it moves, so be it. If it doesn’t, great–tradition continues. To be honest, UGA should worry less about where the game is played, and more about what the plan is once they are there. Hasn’t looked like they have had much of a game plan in recent years…no, wait…decades.
Steveo
March 20th, 2009
10:25 am
MP just said it best. I won’t try to top that. Dome experience is the worst college tailgate/football experience there is. Bad enough the SEC championship is here.
typical bulldawg fan
March 20th, 2009
10:26 am
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
THIS IS A HOME GAME FOR FLARIDA! LET THEM JORT WEARIN MULLETHEADS COME UP TO ATLANTA SO WE CN HAVE HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE!!!
UGA PRESEASON NATIONAL CHAMPS!!!!
HUNKERDOWN!
LET THE BIG DAWG EAT!
GAYTORS SUCK
TEBAG SUCKS
CRYER SUCKS
STAFFORD WILL BE A BETTER PRO!
WOOF WOOF!!!
HUNKERDOWN!
foxdog
March 20th, 2009
10:28 am
Just so you know, if Florida can beat Georgia the next 9 years in a row they will tie the series. Location is not as important in effecting the results of the game as the bye week before. That’s very important and Damon Evans needs to make sure UGA always has an open date the week before the Georgia-Florida game!!
Jeremy
March 20th, 2009
10:29 am
IT is about winning the game not going to party. Move it to home and home and we can party after we win.
Huh?
March 20th, 2009
10:29 am
To all the old Dawgs talking about the 70’s and 80’s, has there ever been a point in the history of this series that the two teams were as evenly matched as they have been this decade? I submit to you that there is not. Georgia won in the 80’s because it has superior talent and coaching. Florida won in the 90’s because it had superior talent and coaching. In the 00’s I think the playing field has been much more level. Football is a game of inches people. Think about it.
Otto
March 20th, 2009
10:29 am
WalkerVoices I think majority of the UGA fans want it in Jax. As for the RRS there was talk in going home and home for them when the Cotton Bowl would not update the stadium but the Cowboy’s new stadium fixed that with alot of money too which is what this is really about. Further Texas has owned that series 58-40 up until recently with OU going on a run with 2 of those games won by ~50 points. The game is alot like Ga/Fl.
I was in Athens for the last tiem it was played in Athen and the game just isn’t the same.
Kendawg
March 20th, 2009
10:30 am
As a GA alumnus, I think the game should be played every other year in the GA Dome, or move to a home and home schedule. I would prefer the home and home schedule.
DAWGS ON TOP!!!
March 20th, 2009
10:31 am
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!!!!
No one wants to play football indoors, and who really wants to travel to Atlanta. The location of the stadium has ZERO to do with the outcome. Georgia gets half the stadium every year and fills up our half every year. Jacksonville is a great trip, the perfect place for the game, and a great excuse to go to the beach in October, not to mention a long standing tradition, something that used to mean something in this world. There is no jet jag, no bus fatigue, no time zone difference,NOTHING. NOT A SOUL complained about Jacksonville in the 70s and 80s when UGA won every year, in a stadium named the “GATOR BOWL” by the way. DAWGS, Coach Richt, Damon Evans: Stop making excuses, MAN UP, and WIN THE GAME!!!
Tony
March 20th, 2009
10:32 am
What is BW talking about? Can anybody tell me what he is trying to say? Why is he here? If you don’t care about the game then why are you here talking about it?
45-42
March 20th, 2009
10:33 am
Great idea! 8 games played inside the state of Georgia. All road games within a 2 hour driving distance. Don’t ever whine to me about how tough the SEC schedule is.
go gators
March 20th, 2009
10:33 am
The Georgia Bulldogs are a horrible football team.
Rabun Dawg
March 20th, 2009
10:33 am
Bad Idea! What is good about playing at the dome every 4 years? There are less seats there, terrible place to tailgate, etc., etc. If not going to go home and home, leave it alone!! The game is a great atmosphere for college football and gets national attention, and we can lose just as well in Atlanta as we can in Jax!! (Sorry about that, but it is discouraging to have lost as many as we have to the Gators in the past 20 years).
CBL
March 20th, 2009
10:34 am
Would love to see it rotate out of JAX to Athens or Gainesville etc. but I cannot endorse Atlanta as a host city for this game. The dome is a terrible venue for a fall college football game in the south. It should be played under open sky. Tailgating at the dome just sucks. Who would want to tailgate in a dark concrete cave with no Dish reception and fend off bums all day and make sure they don’t steal the TV or stereo.
Otto
March 20th, 2009
10:35 am
Ben there is a big difference between Jax. and The Auburn UGA game. I have been to UGA/Auburn at home and away as well as Jax as well as UF in Athens. It is not the same. Further it would pay much less to go home and home.
Fox is correct get the open date before the game.
Steven
March 20th, 2009
10:35 am
The Dome is horrible…Please don’t make us go to downtown Atlanta…The tailgating stinks and the playing indoors is a drag. Plus, the weather is better in FL and who doesn’t love an excuse to go to the beach? Please NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! If anything, alternate home stadiums…Sanford blows the Dome away!!!!!
Joenow
March 20th, 2009
10:36 am
I think it should go to home and home- the whole JAX thing is stupid an dated….lets make it fair while helping the home communities economies too!