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!
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
365 comments Add your comment
recovering south GA
March 20th, 2009
10:36 am
Taking the GA/FL game away for JAX would be a devastating blow to the die hard red and black South GA bulldog fans, most have never been to Athens, hell a lot of them have never graduated high school, but they would sell their crack labs and ST. Andrews Cross for a chance to be in Glory on the first Saturday in May. Jacksonville is as much GA as it FL anyway and a lot of people consider it to be the Capital of the other Georgia the one called South Georgia.
Ron
March 20th, 2009
10:37 am
The game needs to be moved. It should rotate years just for the simple fact of the revenue we dump into FL. Don’t we want a piece of the pie?
Denver Dog
March 20th, 2009
10:37 am
How about 2 years in Jax, and two in Atlanta. In fact we could play the one in Atlanta in Bobby Dodd Stadium and it would get sold a couple of times in a decade.
There is nothing like playing in Jax, but you have this fair going on now, and there is no where to park, and it is a home game for the Gators anyway you look at it. They have kicked us around there, lately, no doubt about it. If you were in Vegas and had that kind of luck you would get up and change games, change tables, or go to bed. Since we can change tables, let’s do it.
Steven Daedalus
March 20th, 2009
10:38 am
To bad there is not a stadium in Savannah because Jacksonville is definitely not neutral, but Atlanta, the Dome, that makes me want to puke.
G8RB8
March 20th, 2009
10:39 am
Either way, you pups will only get half the stadium and stay for half the game.
DawgGoneIt
March 20th, 2009
10:39 am
Move it to Atlanta now! GSU is aniticipating a move to D-1 and that will seriously hurt our S.Georgia support since most of those fans did not attend UGA anyhow. Git it up hear were we atliest have a chanse. I hated playing in that pit and moving it to UGA is the best move.
Otto
March 20th, 2009
10:39 am
Since ‘90 UT has beat UF 3 more times than UGA and LSU has beat them 2 more time. The UGA game just gets more publicity thanks to the game being Jax.
Mr. T
March 20th, 2009
10:39 am
Home and home.
Tony
March 20th, 2009
10:40 am
45-42 needs to hang on to that score as long as you can. Write it down on a napkin & put it under your pillow every night & dream about it. I know alot of Tech fans that need something to hold on to. At the end of this year’s game you can take that napkin back out & wipe the tears & slobber from your bubblin’ lips.
Iceman
March 20th, 2009
10:42 am
Ain’t gonna happen.
go gators
March 20th, 2009
10:42 am
You are all morons.
Right On Time
March 20th, 2009
10:43 am
Good idea. Do it. Pump some money into this states economy.
The “talks” are not about pulling out of Jax, it is about a rotational schedule. Every fla fan, coach, employee, booster, etc. laughs their
tail off about the “neutrality” of this game. Heck, spurrier said it
in public!
I also get tired hearing about the “big money” boosters in south Ga. Do
you think other large schools have “big money” boosters that live 400
miles away but still travel to EVERY game? If distance is such an issue, move or buy a game day condo.
I don’t pretend it will have anything to do with the outcome. However,
it will move some $$$ to Georgia every 4 years. Also, dealing with the
Jax authorities has never been fun, they look to harass UGA fans.
Dan
March 20th, 2009
10:44 am
Regardless of which team is dominating the series, it would nice for the state of Georgia to get the cash infusion from Atlanta hosting the game occasionally. And sure, the “outside game” in Jax is fine when the weather is great, but it isn’t great every time; at least it won’t rain inside the Dome. As for folks who value a few days in St. Simon’s and who see the game in Jax as a really nice “side event,” well, fine; keep going to St. Simons, and watch the game on TV — that’s even more convenient than making the trip down to Jacksonville!
lkbum
March 20th, 2009
10:46 am
Gators are used to the dome, coming frequently to the SEC championship. I guess UGA is also, coming to the Peach Bowl….
Katy
March 20th, 2009
10:46 am
I am commenting from Jacksonville, Florida and I am dedicated Florida fan. The Georgia-Florida game needs to stay right here. Businesses around here will lose big time here if this game moves.
Mark S.
March 20th, 2009
10:47 am
The game couldn’t be MORE nuetral, in Jax, as anyone who actually goes to it, knows. LEAVE IT BE.
Fred
March 20th, 2009
10:47 am
Let’s play ‘em in Waycross.
Gator Bait
March 20th, 2009
10:47 am
Being from Ohio this is the 2nd best game every year. I love the “neutral” turf. I have been going to this game since 1979. The only game I didn’t like was the one in G’ville. I missed the home game in Athens. But the best thing is that it is in J’ville. If the game goes to the Dome so be it. I doubt anyone will be staying at the beach that night.
FloridaDawg
March 20th, 2009
10:49 am
Vince Dooley is laughing out loud now…
BTW…how would you like to live in south Georgia and drive to Athens for all home games?
This isn’t about an advantage to move the Ga-Fl game, it’s only an “excuse” for loses.
As an old Auburn coach once said…MAN UP GEORGIA!
I can see the Headlines now… “UGA moves big game to home and home…subheadline say’s ” Florida coaches say good… it won’t matter”.
richtfan
March 20th, 2009
10:49 am
every other year in jax is fine. make the gayters travel some. that’s fair. it is past time to let RCMR have a choice in this game. He’s earned it. If he wants it changed, then his program is paying the bills for the rest of the athletic department and he should be able to make that call regardless what someone in south Ga thinks about it. We need to distance ourselves from the Dooley-esque period as it pertains to this particular game. We need to stop worrying about rewarding the folks in South GA with their own game and start rewarding the players on our team with a game like this that is close by.
Andy
March 20th, 2009
10:49 am
Why not go to a home and home series? Why does this game have to be on a “neutral” field? I’d love to see the game in Athens every other year.
jaxhack
March 20th, 2009
10:49 am
I never heard you dogette’s complaining when Vince was regularly whipped our butts. What are you going to do with the 40,000 fans who can’t get into the game?
typical bulldawg fan
March 20th, 2009
10:50 am
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
MOVE IT CLOSER TO HOME SO WE DONT HAVE SUCH A LONG SAD DRIVE HOME EVERY YEAR!
I AM TIRED OF CRYING IN MY BEAR FOR 5 HOURS EVERY YEAR!!!!
FLDAWG
March 20th, 2009
10:51 am
The Dome sucks!!!! no fun at all, why the heck did they build a Dome in Atlanta anyway? It’s not like they get bad weather all the time. This is from a UGA fan who wants to keep it in JAX. Do a home and home if tey want to shake things up.
shaq
March 20th, 2009
10:52 am
WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO RUIN A TRADITION LIKE THIS….. UGA TRAVELS TO JACKSONVILLE EVERY YEAR FOR THIS GAME AND I DONT THINK THEY COMPLAINED ABOUT IT….. PLUS I DONT LIKE DOMES. I THINK EVERY FOOTBALL GAME SHOULD BE PLAYED OUTSIDE….. BUT IT DOESNT MATTER CAUSE FLORIDA IS STILL GOING TO BEAT THEM EVERY YEAR FROM NOW ON JUST LIKE THEY DID IN THE 08-09 SEASON!!!!!
Marco
March 20th, 2009
10:52 am
I like it right where it is. And, the Florida “home game” thing about Jacksonville is stupid. There are more Dawg fans in Jacksonville than Gator fans. Some of us South Georgia natives see Jacksonville as Georgia’s second largest city.
Joe D.
March 20th, 2009
10:53 am
I have a novel idea…Play it on each other’s campuses and make it fair to the rest of the SEC East that has to play at Athens and at Gainesville.
Amanda
March 20th, 2009
10:54 am
ABSOLUTELY move it here! It’s completely unfair that it’s in FL. I do not understand why it can’t be rotating every other year!
RAMBLE ON!!!
March 20th, 2009
10:54 am
yawn
dawghouse1011 -Athens
March 20th, 2009
10:55 am
Keep it in Jax….we love traveling down to St Simons and Amelia Island for the game once a year…great times and great memories!!!Go Dawgs!!
Garrett
March 20th, 2009
10:56 am
This gets me every single time and quite frankly I am getting tired of it. The Georgia-Florida game belongs in Jacksonville and that is where it should stay. I am tired of hearing about this neutral thing and how Jacksonville isn’t. Apparently, these people haven’t been to the game and seen that the stadium is split directly 50/50. No one team has an advantage over the other. It is just that Florida has beaten us recently and everyone thinks now that it is not neutral. There are as many Georgia people down there as Florida people. Quite frankly, I think this is the game that most Georgia fans look forward to. Taking a long weekend off, going to St. Simmons for the weekend, then head to Jacksonville Saturday. It is almost like a mini vacation people get to take in the middle of football season. No one wants to go to Atlanta for their vacation when many Bulldog fans live in the darn city itself. So Atlanta needs to be quiet on this and stop playing that it is not neutral because it is and the people saying it isn’t haven’ probably been to a game at all in Jacksonville.
Ricky
March 20th, 2009
10:56 am
Home and home……….. Though it is full of history and tradition Jax was NEVER a very intelligent choice for the Dawgs. Who made that deal anyway?
Lewis
March 20th, 2009
10:57 am
Home and home. Will always benefit the home cities. To heck with the rich guys.
Iceman
March 20th, 2009
10:57 am
The Gators will die soon enough, once lord Tebow is gone. Anyhow, they’ll fall to both Georgia and LSU this coming season.
uga_b
March 20th, 2009
10:58 am
I think we should move to a rotation every other year. One year the ATLANTA PAPER will blog about moving the game and the next year the JACKSONVILLE PAPER can blog about moving the game. Since as many people can access the blogs as they want, there is no imbalance of “seats” and the drive time is the same.
I think this is the fairest compromise for this debate.
Lewis
March 20th, 2009
11:00 am
Home and home. The home cities will benefit. Check the data- the big $ goes to Florida, little to GA. Between the hedges and the Swamp. Gator is good eating.
john holmes
March 20th, 2009
11:01 am
who cares! thats all we need is more drunks in ATL
aprildawg
March 20th, 2009
11:01 am
What’s wrong with Sanford Stadium? It’s usually a pretty nice for a gathering on an October day.
Cheri Leavy
March 20th, 2009
11:02 am
We NEED GA/FLA in Jax. It is a major economic boost to southeast Georgia that gets our coastal community through the winter. It is a tradition and it is NOT why we are losing to Florida, that is a poor excuse. Dooley won regularly. Metro Atlanta has plenty of sports revenue, share with the rest of the state. Grrrrrrrr!
Merlin
March 20th, 2009
11:02 am
We should move it to Jupiter. Then we might get a “draw” when neither team shows.
general spud
March 20th, 2009
11:03 am
why once every four years. why not every other year like every other rivalry. let the florida fans come to “nuetral” territory in GA. yes it will bring a lot of money to metro atlanta. think about how much florida gets each and every year
BILLY JACK
March 20th, 2009
11:03 am
I love the game being played in Jacksonville I have gone since before I was a student at UGA- 85 grad- nobody complained when we were winning every year.All we have to do is start winning this game again and you will not hear this complaint from my UGA brothers and sisters.It is one of the great traditions of college football it needs to stay in Jvlle not the dome.
ugagrad
March 20th, 2009
11:03 am
I am so excited to see this actually being considered. As we walked out of the stadium this past fall after the complete blow out, my friends and I said this game needs to be played every other year at the GA Dome! It has become psychological for our team every year we go down there. Yes I know Tebow was amazing blah blah but the point is it is NOT neutral territory no matter what they say! We are in FL for goodness sake!! I LOVE GA/FL (this year would be my 9th year in a row going) but I am absolutely willing to see the Gators come to ATL every 4 years. Personally, I think the game should rotate every other year like all of our other games! I really hope this idea is approved!!
Suzy
March 20th, 2009
11:04 am
OH PLEASE NO!!! WE ARE ALREADY IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING RID OF THE HOODLUMS DOWN HERE DOWNTOWN, NOW HERE COMES THE SURBURBAN REDNECKS. PLEASE KEEP THA GAME IN JAX OR ATHENS. I DONT FEEL LIKE SEEING STUPID BLONDES HANGING ON TO FAT MEN WITH SHIRTS OFF CHEWING TOBACCO LIKE THEY ARE AT A NASCAR RACE. PLEASE STAY AWAY HILLBILLIES!!!!!
BIG DAWG
March 20th, 2009
11:04 am
I say have it in Athens and Gainesville. Switch out each year like every other team or rival does. Now isn’t that right Chris T.?
FloridaDawg
March 20th, 2009
11:06 am
And another thing about the media…when Georgia is winning…the Jacksonville media covers us quite well.
In the 70’s and 80’s it was “an expected FACT that we would beat Florida” …that’s what the media said over and over…AND I still have many copies of many years of the Florida Times-Union in my closet to prove it. Fantastic coverage written by David Lamm, Pat Dooley, Frank Frangie, Tom Cornelison and Gene Pullen…just to name a FEW.
For some of you kids on here…there was TALK every single year by the GATORS to MOVE the game BECAUSE Georgia HAD an advantage in Jacksonville..the old timers remember well.
When Georgia is winning…the media takes interest…
po'd Dawg
March 20th, 2009
11:08 am
This is what happens when we get our tales beat for 20yrs straight. I got news for CMR and Evans – It would not matter if we played them on Pluto, they simply want it more and they would beat us anywhere. We need a coach with some intensity!
Chris
March 20th, 2009
11:08 am
Two things… Oklahoma never complains about playing in Texas everywhere… Maybe it has to do with winning. Who knows. Second, If you take this game to Atlanta every year (or every other year) then, for that year, the SECCG should be moved somewhere else. Fair? Unfair?
I mean… Why should Atlanta benefit from two high level SEC games being played there every year? Not to mention the season opening games, chik-fil-a bowl, etc, etc…
Sounds like Atlanta is getting greedy.
TallyBrave
March 20th, 2009
11:09 am
Jacksonville IS the capital of South Georgia! Why would any of you want to ruin such a great tradition??? I am an FSU graduate and native of Southeast GA, and I even go home every year for this event! Amelia Island is the best, and the atmosphere in Jacksonville is amazing.
DH Dawg
March 20th, 2009
11:09 am
Rotate it every year between Atlanta and Jacksonville, or switch it to a regular home and home series. Seriously, just because it’s been done one way for so long (hence the word “tradition”) does NOT make it right!