The future of the Georgia football and Florida rivalry has taken center stage this week as the two sides square off again on Saturday. Usually all of the focus is on the game itself, but with future renovations coming to EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville there was a lot of news and discussion about where this game should be played going forward.
It was announced earlier this week that this game will be played in Atlanta in 2026 and in Tampa Bay in 2027 while EverBank Stadium goes under massive renovations. This news alone was a major talking point because many fans felt very passionately about how they should have put this game on Georgia and Florida's campuses instead.
Kirby Smart was asked about this as well, and it sounds like he doesn't mind either way.
"I mean, I’m so engulfed in this — in the game," Smart said via dawgnation.com. “I recognize why it’s a story for you guys, but I’m so consumed by, you know, our team. We’re trying to get our team better for Florida. That’s my focus. I mean, I really hadn’t been involved in those discussions. I think that was a consideration maybe, but I don’t even remember when and I can’t even tell you why it did go one way or the other, to be honest with you.”
Florida-Georgia heading back to Jacksonville
Now that the location for the 2026 and 2027 games are set, the next question was where it will be played beginning in 2028. That was announced on Friday and the rivalry will be heading back to Jacksonville through 2031.
Again, many fans wish this game would rotate between the two program's campuses, but the motivation to keep it in Jacksonville is pretty clear. According to On3, both teams will be paid $10 million in 2028 and 2029 by the city of Jacksonville, and in 2030 and 2031 they will be paid $10.5 million.
Unfortunately dollar signs is what runs college football now, and that appears to be the main reason why this game is heading back to Jacksonville. Maybe after 2031 there will be conversations of putting this game on the program's campuses, but if this amount of money keeps getting thrown around that probably isn't likely to happen.