JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The annual Georgia-Florida game is moving out of Jacksonville, Florida for two years in 2026 and 2027. However, it’s not the home-and-home many, including Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, had hoped for.
On Wednesday, according to CBS Sports, Florida head coach Billy Napier confirmed on SEC coaches teleconference that the two games will have new locations those two years. Napier said that Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host the matchup in 2026, while Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida will host the annual rivalry matchup in 2027.
Georgia and Florida have faced off in Jacksonville since 1933 and have only played elsewhere in 1994 and 1995 due to renovations on TIAA Bank Field. Now, the Bulldogs and the Gators are forced to relocate again, as EverBank Stadium undergoes renovations.
However, the games will remain neutral site matchups, unlike in 1994 and 1995 where they were a home-and-home series. Smart, while not as much in the past two years, has been outspoken about preferring this, rather than neutral site matchups.
“When it comes down to it, there’s a very, very basic element of everything comes back to, number one money and number two, recruiting and getting good players,” Smart said at the SEC Media Days in 2022. “I firmly believe that we’ll be able to sign better players by having it as a home-and-home because we’ll have more opportunities to get them to campus.”
Instead, both teams will play in neutral site matchups a little closer to home. Georgia will play just an hour's drive away from Athens — nearly six times less than the drive to Jacksonville — and Florida will play at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and South Florida Bulls home field. This is an hour longer than the drive from Gainesville, Florida to Jacksonville, but still fairly close.
According to CBS Sports, Napier cited financial reasons on the teleconference for why the games needed to remain a neutral site battle, despite the want for a home-and-home series.
"Kirby and I probably both agree that it'd be awesome to play home-and-home," Napier said. "But we also know that there's a tremendous amount of revenue, there's a significant difference in the revenue generated."
Georgia and Florida will play at EverBank Stadium in both 2024 and 2025, before playing outside of Jacksonville for the first time in over three decades. Beyond 2027, there are no plans for where the game will be played.
With the Georgia-Florida game’s status in Jacksonville up in the air in 2028 and beyond, playing in Atlanta and Tampa may become the homes for the series.