So, shut up, Kirby! Your butt is going to Jacksonville every year for the foreseeable future.
Oliver Barry CRS, GRI Real Estate Broker PARKS Real Estate Services 305 B Indian Lake Blvd Suite 220 Hendersonville TN 37075 Office: 615-826-4040 Mobile: 615-972-4239 [email protected] Begin forwarded message: > From: Shane Ford <[email protected]> > Date: July 6, 2019 at 2:46:52 PM CDT > To: GatorNews <[email protected]> > Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: Money is too good for Florida-Georgia game to > leave Jacksonville > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Money is too good for Florida-Georgia game to leave Jacksonville > > July 6, 2019 > > Florida defensive back Trey Dean III (21) breaks up a pass attempt to Georgia > wide receiver Jeremiah Holloman in their game last month in Jacksonville. > [Lauren Bacho/Staff Photographer] > By Gene Frenette, GateHouse Florida > > JACKSONVILLE — Many college football traditions have gone by the wayside, > some of it due to conference realignment and others lost to plain, > old-fashioned greed or negligence. > > Just don’t expect the Florida-Georgia game to fall into that category and > move away from Jacksonville any time soon. > > Is it impossible? No, because few things in sports last forever. But it’s > going to take a lot more than occasional grumbling about Florida owning a > geographical home-field advantage, or a lament from Georgia football coach > Kirby Smart about losing a recruiting weekend, to compel the schools to > abandon a good thing. > > Prying the Florida-Georgia game away from the same venue it has played > continuously since 1933 (except 1994-95 for Gator Bowl renovations) would > take a bizarre turn of events. It’s anchored down pretty tight at TIAA Bank > Field. Jacksonville would have to fumble the ball in a bad way because nobody > of considerable influence wants the game going anywhere. > > Not Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin, not Georgia AD Greg McGarity, > not the Jaguars, and certainly not Jacksonville mayor Lenny Curry. He’s never > been shy about ripping the previous administration of Alvin Brown for not > being more pro-active in negotiating a contract renewal with the schools, so > Curry would view it as a personal affront to see the Florida-Georgia game and > its $35 million economic impact go elsewhere on his watch. > > But Jacksonville’s foothold on this game goes beyond staging 86 years of > nearly uninterrupted tradition. It’s the fans feeling connected to the 50-50 > atmosphere of coming to Jacksonville, the RV city experience, the > relationships forged over decades of this city trying to accommodate the > wishes of the most heated SEC rivals besides Alabama and Auburn. > > All those factors, however, are secondary to the most important reason why > Jacksonville should have this game on lockdown for the foreseeable future: > money. > > Florida and Georgia are now pocketing $3.3 million in profit annually to play > in Jacksonville. That’s what makes any discussion of going to a home-and-home > series so foolhardy because every year, the away team would receive no money > and spend several hundred thousand dollars on travel costs that are now > covered. > > Smart can lament all he wants about Georgia losing one recruiting weekend > every two years. Aside from the fact he’s already brought home a top-3 > recruiting class nationally every year since his arrival, there’s no way > McGarity or school president Jere Morehead would leave $3.3 million on the > table. And nobody in the UF administration is going to consider that option > either. > > Plus, let’s not forget playing a home-and-home series means about 35,000 fans > of the road team won’t have access to game tickets like they do every year > when it’s staged at TIAA Bank Field. Do you think Georgia or Florida wants to > deal with irate season ticket-holders who would get excluded in that scenario? > > None of this means Jacksonville can take for granted the game will always be > here. If anything could put the game’s future in jeopardy, it’s complacency. > The city flirted with that a little bit during the Brown administration, > letting communication with the schools slip through the cracks so badly, > Curry, Jaguars’ president Mark Lamping and other officials had to mend some > fences after the mayor took office in the summer of 2015. > > The last contract didn’t get signed until March, 2016, seven months before it > was due to expire. Normally, a deal is consummated well over a year before > the last game is played, though the Jaguars’ unfinished renovations to 3,000 > club seats factored into the delay. > > Curry was adamant when the last contract got signed to include a provision > that negotiations would start sooner in the process, so he’s been more > diligent about not letting communication issues become a problem. > > As McGarity told the Times-Union when the 2016 deal was consummated: “The > city was very responsive once [Curry] came on board. Little things in deals > are big things. This isn’t a slam dunk or formality. We don’t want the game > to move, but don’t give us a reason to move it.” > > If there’s any legitimate threat to the game leaving Jacksonville, it’d be a > combination of two things: not acquiescing to the schools’ contractual demand > of the Florida-Georgia game capacity remaining 82,917, along with any future > push from Georgia to maybe bring Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium into the > equation on a biennial basis. > > It’s no secret the replacement venue for the demolished Georgia Dome has > become a huge neutral-site player on the college football landscape. With an > expanded capacity of 75,000, though it’s almost 8,000 less seats than TIAA > Bank Field, the only way Atlanta can significantly outspend Jacksonville for > the Florida-Georgia game in terms of payout would be to charge at least > double for club seats. > > “The biggest threat [for Jacksonville] is somebody comes along and offers $5 > million per team,” said Taxslayer Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett. “But to > get that, you have to set the same price as Atlanta and Dallas gets for > neutral-site games. So those club seats that are $125 [at TIAA Bank Field] > might have to go as high as $300. I know Georgia won’t want to do that to its > fan base.” > > Between tradition and the economics that plays out in Jacksonville’s favor, > nothing short of an unforeseen disaster is going to force the Florida-Georgia > game out of TIAA Bank Field. Next year, look for a new five-year > Florida-Georgia contract to be signed through 2026. Jacksonville is not going > to be another Birmingham, which lost the SEC Championship Game to Atlanta in > 2005 and will never get it back. > > As long as Jacksonville makes keeping the Florida-Georgia game a top > priority, nobody is going to hijack its greatest single-day sporting event. > > [email protected]: (904) 359-4540 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sent from my iPhone > Go Gators! > -- > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 > National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 > National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "GatorNews" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gatornews/B1BC9597-8654-4EDE-958B-0EA64800A36E%40gmail.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorTalk" group. 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