Georgia-Florida Game to Leave Jacksonville for Two Years in 2026 and 2027

Construction is coming to EverBank Stadium.

Georgia's Jamon Dumas-Johnson tackling Florida's Trevor Etienne in 2023. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

As construction on EverBank Stadium looms, Florida and Georgia are taking their annual rivalry football game on the road.

The Gators and Bulldogs will play in Atlanta in 2026 and Tampa in 2027 while the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars is renovated, Florida coach Billy Napier and Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Wednesday morning.

The games will be the first editions of the rivalry held outside Jacksonville since 1994 and 1995, when the two schools played a home-and-home while the historic Gator Bowl was replaced with EverBank Stadium. Games have also been held in Macon, Ga. (1904) and Savannah, Ga. (1928 and 1930).

"It's been talked about and debated for a long time—for a while, since we've known the Jacksonville renovation was going to occur. I think the parties involved did a great job of managing it," Smart said via Graham Hall of 247Sports. "I'm excited about the opportunity to play at two different locations, so that'll be unique. Maybe we learn from those two experiences."

Atlanta has never hosted the game, while Tampa hosted it in 1919 (the Bulldogs won 16–0).

"Kirby and I probably both agree that it'd be awesome to play home-and-home, but we also know that there's a tremendous amount of revenue created by having this game in a neutral site, right? So money makes the world go around, and certainly the amount of revenue, there's a significant difference in the revenue that's generated, right?" Napier said. "So, we play in Jacksonville, there is an historical context to that, but there's also a revenue component as well, and I think the neutral site will present those same revenue opportunities, and that's ultimately why the decision was made."

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