Insider points to $10.5M advantage Kirby Smart's Georgia and Billy Napier's Florida have over other SEC teams
The Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators are part of the SEC and are two of the most historically dominant programs in collegiate football. Furthermore, both teams have household names in Kirby Smart and Billy Napier as head coaches.
On Wednesday, Mike Griffith of Dawg Nation pointed out on X (formerly known as Twitter) that these two teams are set to receive a big windfall for the upcoming venue changes of their current series.
“Georgia and Florida are set to get an enormous amount of money for playing in Atlanta and Tampa. The schools will get $7.5M in ATL, and when the series shifts to Jacksonville there will be a payment of between $10-10.5M. It is a major financial windfall for both programs, and one that the rest of the SEC isn't set to benefit from.”
The annual Florida-Georgia game is famously known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." This year's game will be played in the EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville before shifting to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for 2026 and Tampa in 2027 while EverBank undergoes renovations. The game will then return to Jacksonville for 2028-31.
What's next for the Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators?
The Georgia Bulldogs posted an 11-3 record in the 2024 college football season. They lost just two games in the regular season, against the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Ole Miss Rebels. However, the Bulldogs were unceremoniously knocked out of the expanded College Football Playoff by eventual finalists, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Hence, the 2025 season is of great significance for Kirby Smart's side. The program remains one of the most stacked from top to bottom in collegiate football, and they'll be looking to win their first national championship since going back-to-back in 2021 and 2022.
The Florida Gators had a much less impressive 2024 season when compared to the Georgia Bulldogs. They posted an 8-5 record and were out of playoff contention as early as their eighth game of the season.
Billy Napier is one of the most under-pressure head coaches in collegiate football entering 2025. A poor run of results could cost the offensive-minded head coach his job.
It's still a minor surprise how he retained it in the first place after a deeply disappointing start to last year's regular season. At least the Gators bounced back to pick up a win in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl Game against the Tulane Green Wave.