The Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators have agreed to keep their annual football game in Jacksonville, Fla., through the 2025 season, it was announced on Wednesday.
Georgia and Florida were previously contracted to play in Jacksonville through 2023, but both teams agreed to exercise an option to extend the series in Jacksonville an additional two seasons through 2025.
“The City of Jacksonville has been an historic host for one of the great rivalry games in all of college football,” Florida Athletics Director Scott Stricklin said. “We are excited to have the game in Jacksonville for another two seasons.”
Georgia and Florida have met annually in Jacksonville since 1933, with the exception of 1994 and 1995 when the old Gator Bowl underwent renovations for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. The stadium, now named TIAA Bank Field, has a seating capacity of 67,814 and is expandable to 82,000.
“We are pleased with the decision to exercise the option that will keep the game in Jacksonville for 2024 and 2025,” said UGA J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Josh Brooks. “We look forward to discussions that I’m sure will continue over the next couple years exploring all the options for 2026 and beyond. We continue to be appreciative of the working relationship we have with the University of Florida and the City of Jacksonville.”
Georgia and Florida first met on the gridiron in 1904 and have played a total of 100 contests. The Bulldogs have won two consecutive games in the series and now lead 54-44-2.
“Jacksonville has been the proud home of the Georgia-Florida game since 1933,” Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said. “We are excited to welcome back the thousands of Dawgs and Gators to Jacksonville in 2024 and 2025. I want to thank the University of Georgia and University of Florida for their continued faith and investment in our city.”
Georgia and Florida are scheduled to meet at TIAA Bank Field this season on Saturday, Oct. 28. The game will be televised by CBS at 3:30pm ET.
Football Schedules
What can we infer from this regarding future SEC scheduling matrix. 8 games vs 9 games? Pods vs 1 rival every year and the remaining 14 teams H/A one at least one time in 4 years?
Interesting it is only for 2 years and not long term. Another read the tea leaves situation.
I think it’s because the stadium in Jacksonville will be undergoing renovations after 2025, which is why they chose that year.
Nothing, because Oklahoma and Texas will definitely and Arkansas and Texas A&M will probably also keep their neutral site games.
This is not a new contract, it was signed several years ago and only ran through 2023. There was an option to extend it an additional two years, and they have now done that.
It’s had its run in Jacksonville. Time to start rotating it as a home game. Besides they are losing a tremendous amount of revenue due to TIAA stadium in Jacksonville being so much smaller in capacity. Hate to make it about money, but that’s the reality of it.
Yeah, I think once the Gator Bowl Stadium was torn down to make way for the current stadium, the neutral site atmosphere lost its essence.