{"id":901413,"date":"2026-10-31T20:18:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T20:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/901413\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T20:18:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T20:18:33","slug":"florida-and-georgia-fans-are-fuming-over-todays-venue-for-multiple-reasons-but-one-sticks-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/901413\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida and Georgia fans are fuming over today&#8217;s venue for multiple reasons, but one sticks out"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">The Florida Gators are still orange and blue. The Georgia Bulldogs are still red and black.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">Other than that? Nothing will be recognizable in today&#8217;s annual SEC rivalry game. And I mean nothing.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">For starters, the game won&#8217;t be in Jacksonville for the first time in three decades. It won&#8217;t return to Duval until 2028 due to stadium renovations. Today, it&#8217;ll be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, in Atlanta. Next year, it&#8217;ll be in Tampa.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The name of the game itself has also undergone major changes. For years, it was known as &#8220;The World&#8217;s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.&#8221; Fans still affectionately call it that even though the NCAA changed it &#8230; for obvious reasons.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/florida-gators-georgia-bulldogs-rivalry-fox-news_.jpg\" alt=\"Florida Gators fans leave early during a college football game against Georgia Bulldogs at TIAA Bank Field.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Florida fans leave early during a lopsided loss to Georgia in the annual Florida-Georgia rivalry game at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The Florida Gators fell to the Georgia Bulldogs 34-7. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">This year, arguably the SEC&#8217;s biggest rivalry game outside of LSU-&#8216;Bama will be known as \u2014 and I hope you&#8217;re sitting down for this \u2014 the &#8220;Invesco QQQ Atlanta Gridiron Classic.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_outkick-sports_article_main-content_article-body_6_2059851\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/outkick-sports\/company-georgia-football-on-field-sponsor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHICH COMPANY DECIDED TO BECOME GEORGIA FOOTBALL&#8217;S ON-FIELD SPONSOR<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Rolls right off the tongue!<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">So, yeah \u2014 a lot has changed. None of it is particularly good. Perhaps the most contentious change at the moment? The roof at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which will be closed this afternoon despite glorious weather conditions in Atlanta.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_outkick-sports_article_main-content_article-body_6_2059852\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/outkick-sports\/falcons-star-bijan-robinson-wants-every-nfl-team-play-indoors-one-day-that-would-be-sick\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">FALCONS STAR BIJAN ROBINSON WANTS EVERY NFL TEAM TO PLAY INDOORS ONE DAY: &#8216;THAT WOULD BE SICK&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Fans from both teams \u2014 divided on just about everything else \u2014 were firmly united in this one.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">They hate it:<\/p>\n<p>Neutral site games STINK<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">I could go on and on. Nobody is happy right now. Again, both these fanbases hate each other, but they&#8217;ve found some real common ground when it comes to this year&#8217;s game.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">I&#8217;m with them, by the way. Frankly, I think this game should be in Athens, and I think next year&#8217;s game should be in Gainesville before it returns to Jacksonville in 2028. That seemed like a no-brainer to me.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_outkick-sports_article_main-content_article-body_6_2059853\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/outkick-sports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">But the schools decided to play it at a neutral site because, I assume, corporate checks hit the bank account a little differently. Those are important in today&#8217;s NIL world, you know?<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/mercedes-benz-stadium-atlanta-october.jpg\" alt=\"Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on a daytime exterior view.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Personally, I think <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_outkick-sports_article_main-content_article-body_6_2059854\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/outkick-sports\/no-jacksonville-no-problem-georgia-florida-fans-wanted-home-and-home-money-wins-college-football\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">neutral site games<\/a> in college football are just awful. They stink. The best thing college football has going for it is the campus atmosphere. That&#8217;s why we love it, right? It&#8217;s what makes College GameDay and Big Noon Kickoff great. It&#8217;s why the <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_outkick-sports_article_main-content_article-body_6_2059855\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/outkick-sports\/college-football-moves-closer-24-game-playoff-destruction-best-regular-season-sports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">college football playoff<\/a> is great \u2014 at least for the first round.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">But over the past decade or so, there&#8217;s been this shift to neutral site games. You see it all the time in the season-openers. There&#8217;s just no juice. No spark. It doesn&#8217;t quite hit the same.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_outkick-sports_article_main-content_article-body_6_2059856\" href=\"https:\/\/link.podtrac.com\/ccs_article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW\u2013UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_outkick-sports_article_main-content_article-body_6_2059857\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/outkick-sports\/florida-gators-back-football-finally-fun-swamp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">FLORIDA GATORS MAY OR MAY NOT BE \u2018BACK,\u2019 BUT ONE THING IS CERTAIN, FOOTBALL IS FINALLY FUN IN THE SWAMP AGAIN<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793477913_322_georgia-florida-helmets-everbank-stadium.jpg\" alt=\"Georgia and Florida helmets sit before a game at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>A general view of Georgia and Florida helmets before the start of a game between the Florida Gators and the Georgia Bulldogs at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., on Nov. 2, 2024. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">And don&#8217;t get me started on the international games. Throw those in the trash can and toss the bag into a landfill. There is nothing worse than an international college football game. Nothing.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Give me a break.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_outkick-sports_article_main-content_article-body_6_2059859\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/newsletters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY OUTKICK NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Anyway, happy <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_outkick-sports_article_main-content_article-body_6_2059860\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/outkick\/florida-gators-look-strengthen-college-football-playoff-case-ranked-matchup-georgia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Florida-Georgia day<\/a> to all who celebrate!<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">No need for sunglasses in Atlanta this afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Zach Dean is a writer for OutKick.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Florida Gators are still orange and blue. The Georgia Bulldogs are still red and black. Other than&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":901414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[5786,3342,399,6341,398,140712,396,397,259870,99],"class_list":["post-901413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-atlanta","tag-florida-gators","tag-football","tag-georgia-bulldogs","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-fb","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-outkick-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}