Novig pricesFlorida and Georgia take the Cocktail Party to Atlanta as Jacksonville rebuilds
With Jacksonville's stadium under renovation, No. 17 Florida and No. 3 Georgia meet at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Halloween, with $7.5 million going to each school.
For the first time, the Florida-Georgia rivalry will be played in Atlanta. No. 17 Florida and No. 3 Georgia meet Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, not at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville stadium is in the middle of a renovation that isn't due to finish until August 2028, The Sporting News reported.
The move was announced in 2024, and the game is already on the road again next year. The 2027 meeting goes to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. It returns to Jacksonville in 2028 under a deal that runs through 2031. Jacksonville has hosted the game 93 times in its 104-year history. The last time it left town was in the mid-1990s, when the old Gator Bowl was torn down and the teams played on campus.
Money is a big reason the game stayed at a neutral site. The Athens Banner-Herald obtained a memorandum of understanding showing that AMB Sports & Entertainment, Arthur Blank's company, is paying each school $7.5 million for the Atlanta game. Georgia is believed to make $5 million to $5.5 million a year from the game in Jacksonville. Jacksonville is also paying each school $1.5 million while the game is away, and it has guaranteed each school at least $10 million in 2028 and 2029 and $10.5 million in 2030 and 2031. Sports Illustrated reported that presale tickets were split evenly between the two schools' donors and season-ticket holders. Each school also gets up to $500,000 to cover travel and lodging.
The venue change does move the game closer to Athens. Georgia is listed as the home team, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium is where the Bulldogs play the SEC Championship Game.
What it means Saturday
Georgia is 6-1 and 4-1 in the SEC, but it comes in off a 27-24 home loss to Auburn. The Bulldogs had beaten No. 6 Alabama 20-17 the week before. Georgia's season numbers are strong: about 43 points scored and 16 allowed per game. Its last two games, though, produced 24 and 20 points. Florida is 5-2 and 3-2 in conference play after winning 27-24 at No. 7 Texas, which ended a two-game slide in which the Gators lost 38-19 to South Carolina and 45-17 at Missouri. The Gators score almost 40 points a game but give up more than 28. Auburn is the one opponent both teams have played. Florida won 44-39 on the Plains, and Georgia lost to the Tigers at home.
The prices on this site's board still favor Georgia by a wide margin. Novig, one of the 12 venues tracked, has the Bulldogs favored by 11.5 points at -104, with Florida at -102 on the other side. The moneyline there is Georgia -426 and Florida +413. Florida's best number anywhere is +13.5 at Hard Rock Bet (-115), so the venues are two points apart on the spread. Novig has the total at 56.5. BetRivers posts the lowest Over line at 55.5 (-122). Sportsbook hold ranges from about 3.6% to 7.0% across the markets.
Kickoff is Halloween on ABC.