Georgia fans are being forced to sacrifice their fandom for Kirby Smart’s benefit

Georgia has been cancelling their scheduled home-and-home series left and right. Last year they canceled on Louisville and NC State and a few weeks ago they cancelled a series with Florida State.

These decisions were all caused by the SEC moving to nine conference games a season which didn't leave any room on Georgia's schedule for these home-and-home series.

Georgia still has home-and-home series scheduled with Clemson (twice) and Ohio State, but it feels like a matter of time until those go away as well. Unfortunately the first domino has fallen with their series against Clemson as reports came out on Friday that the two programs are discussing moving their home-and-home series to a neutral site instead.

Georgia's attempt to keep pace with the rest of the country comes at the expense of their fans

Cancelling their series with Louisville, NC State and Florida State made sense. Georgia did this to avoid having to play 11 Power Four teams in one regular season, so while everyone still wanted these games to be played there was at least a rationale explanation as to why they weren't.

But then Georgia announced a neutral site game against Florida State in 2028 that will replace their home-and-home series, and it looks like that is what UGA and Clemson are about to do as well.

So if Georgia actually is fine with playing 11 Power Four opponents, why cancel these home-and-home series in favor of neutral site games? The only explanation is more NIL money.

Just look at how much money Georgia and Florida make each year to have their game played at a neutral site. These two teams will play in Atlanta this season and will both reportedly make $7.5 million each. Georgia will likely make around that much in 2028 against Florida State as well and if they move their matchups with Clemson to a neutral site they could expect a big payday too.

This may seem like a good decision so Smart and Georgia can have more NIL money, but it comes at the expense of their fans. Georgia fans already have to sacrifice one home game every other year thanks to their neutral site matchup with Florida, and now they will have to add in a second lost home game as well.

Every single fan would rather see Georgia play at home because it's far easier (and cheaper) to attend, but unfortunately no one seems to care about that.

Is sacrificing home games worth it for Georgia to have more NIL money?

It's hard to say if sacrificing these home games is worth it or not. On the surface it is really frustrating because fans don't want to give up home games, but NIL is one of the most important things in college football right now.

Georgia does have a good amount of money at their disposal, but they don't seem to have as much as the biggest spenders. So adding these neutral site games will give Georgia more money and the ability to compete on the recruiting trail more.

There are a few recruits every year that Georgia loses because they didn't offer enough money. Five-star Donte Wright, who flipped from Georgia to Miami this year, is one of the most recent examples. If Georgia had more money though then maybe he would've never flipped.

But will fans think it is worth it to give up more home games so Georgia can have more NIL money? That is impossible to answer because they are sacrificing something they love (home games) in order for Georgia to compete more. So even if the sacrifice is for a good reason it still doesn't feel completely right to put this on the fans.

As of now Clemson and Georgia still have two home-and-home series scheduled to begin in 2029 and 2032, but it looks like those games will soon be gone and replaced with neutral site matchups instead.

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