EverBank Stadium is always filled for the Florida-Georgia football game. | Georgia-Florida Football Game Facebook
Published on October 29, 2024 at 3:10 pm
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An announcement could come soon on the future of the annual Florida-Georgia college football game, a historic rivalry that will return to Jacksonville this weekend.
The 91-year-old game has a contract to play in Jacksonville through next year, but the pending renovation of EverBank Stadium puts arrangements in question after that.
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Mayor Donna Deegan said Tuesday that the city is optimistic it will host the game in Jacksonville “for a long, long time.”
“We have been working very closely with both universities to make that happen,” Deegan said at a news conference that also covered traffic, rules and safety for one of Jacksonville’s biggest annual events.
The stadium will be unavailable during renovation in 2027, which would force the Jacksonville Jaguars and Florida-Georgia teams to other sites.
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Whether Florida and Georgia would return after that has not been decided.
The two schools “have been involved in every step of the way in the design and planning process of the Stadium of the Future, to ensure that it meets the needs of that wonderful annual tradition as well as the needs of the Jaguars and the needs of the city,” Deegan said. “And we have made great progress in several months of meetings with the schools that keeps the game in Jacksonville in 2028 and beyond.”
About this year’s game
The two teams, one based 71 miles away in Gainesville, the other 342 miles away in Athens, Georgia, have been football rivals since 1933. Florida last won the rivalry in 2020, with Georgia routing the Gators in the past three matchups by scores of 34-7, then 42-20, and 43-20 last year.
This year, the Georgia Bulldogs are the home team. Their bench and fans will be on the west side of the stadium. The Florida Gators are the away team, on the east side of the stadium.
Kickoff will be at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, and gates will open at 1:30 p.m. Sheriff’s Office Chief Ellis Burns suggested strongly that fans who are driving in to the stadium be there early. Parking lots open at 8 a.m.
“If you would like to see kickoff, we advise that you are in your parking spot five hours ahead of game time, so please plan on being parked by 10:30 a.m.,” Burns said. “This will help us a lot with traffic.
“Stadium gates open at 130 p.m. and at that time, our traffic plan focus will shift to moving pedestrian traffic safely. Vehicle traffic should expect delays after 1:30 pm, and the commute will be much longer.”
There are 12 city parking lots at and around the stadium, shutting down two hours after the end of the game. Parking must be paid for in advance. Passes are available for purchase from Ticketmaster.com. Tickets for the games are also electronic, scanned from a fan’s cellphone.
Security regulations limit the size and type of bags that may be brought into the stadium, and all items will be subject to inspection at the gates. No cameras with detachable lenses or lenses longer than 6 inches are allowed.
There also are changes at the free Fan Fare, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday inside Daily’s Place Flex Field.
“Different this year will be that there will be security screening upon entry,” said Mike Kenny, director of stadium and event services. “You do not need a game day ticket to attend.”
Police recommend fans use the JTA’s Gameday Xpress buses, with service starting at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday from five locations in Jacksonville. Service will end 90 minutes after the game is over.
Passes are $10 from the Kings Avenue Parking Garage and Florida State College at Jacksonville Downtown Campus Xpress sites. They are $15 from JTA Park-n-Ride facilities on Armsdale Road, Phillips Highway and the Beaches Lot on Penman Road South in Jacksonville Beach.
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department will have 40 staff outside the stadium and 50 more inside. The city will set up six information and first aid stations around the stadium for basic first aid, cellphone chargers, water and information.
Those stattions will open from noon on game day and close 30 minutes after it ends at Metropolitan Park, VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and parking lots E, P and X, as well as the Veterans Memorial Wall.
All tickets have been sold out for Friday’s Georgia-Florida Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. This year’s inductees including Mike Fisher and Bill Goldberg from the University of Georgia, alongside Fred Weary and Mike Peterson from the University of Florida.
Tickets are still available for Friday’s Florida Gators and Jacksonville University Dolphins fall exhibition baseball game. Tickets are $15, and the first pitch is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. at 121 Financial Ballpark on A. Philip Randolph Boulevard.
Traffic information and road closures can be found at jaxsheriff.org. For live game day traffic updates, go to @JSOPIO on X. For more information about the football game, go to GAFLjax.com.
