College football fans unite in fervor over corporate rebranding of Georgia-Georgia Tech game
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If modern college football has taught us anything, it’s that when you have the opportunity to minimize an incredibly recognizable rivalry between 2 passionate fan bases, you absolutely have to take it. Nothing screams “pageantry” like milquetoast game names with a sponsor flag slapped over the top of it.
Later this year, “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” will become the “Invesco QQQ Atlanta Gridiron Classic.”
Georgia will play its annual in-state rivalry game against Georgia Tech inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. One of college football’s oldest rivalries, played almost exclusively on college campuses for a century, will move inside an NFL stadium.
Now, to be clear, the name of the rivalry series between the two schools isn’t being changed. The “Atlanta Gridiron Classic” is akin to the “Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game” moniker. It’s a sponsored game with a 2-year shelf life as it relates to the Bulldogs. Georgia will play in the “Atlanta Gridiron Classic” in 2026 as well, but that game will feature Florida on the opposing sideline.
And Georgia is being compensated for participating in the game. The Bulldogs will reportedly garner $17.5 million over the next 2 years — $10 million from the 2025 game and $7.5 from the Florida game. That’s almost enough to fully fund an entire year of rev-share at the school.
(A press release in June said the game will continue annually and has plans to showcase other “marquee programs from across the country.)
Still, the minimization and corporate whitewashing of one of the more iconic football rivalries in sports sent social media into a tizzy on Friday when the official Twitter account for Mercedes-Benz Stadium announced when tickets would go on sale.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
