Florida, Georgia Cocktail Party game to remain in Jacksonville until at least 2025
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Outside of on-campus games in 1994 and 1995, the annual Florida-Georgia (or Georgia-Florida) matchup has been played in Jacksonville on an annual basis since 1933.
And for the time being, it doesn’t appear that the Cocktail Party is going anywhere any time soon.
Jacksonville’s city council on Tuesday voted to extend the city’s contract to host the game through to at least 2025. As the Athens Banner-Herald Marc Weiszer notes, it was set to expire following the 2023 season, with the city having the option to exercise an option to extend it for 2 more years.
Lenny Curry, the mayor of Jacksonville, made the announcement on Twitter on Tuesday evening:
Pleased to see our City Council unanimously approved a new contract that will keep one of our great traditions in #Jacksonville through 2025.Many thanks to my City Council colleagues, @UF, & @UGA for keeping this rivalry where it belongs. @GatorsFB @GeorgiaFootball pic.twitter.com/9TE5Z9kyMT
— Lenny Curry (@lennycurry) October 27, 2021
Georgia, currently ranked No. 1 in the country, leads the all-time series 54-42-2. Last year, the Gators beat the Bulldogs 44-28, ending a 3-game skid in the rivalry. As for this year’s edition, it’s the first time since 2009 that the game has featured the No. 1 team in the country. That year, Tim Tebow led top-ranked Florida past unranked Georgia 41-17.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
