While Jacksonville has served as the perfect location for the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party between massive SEC rivals Florida and Georgia, the Gators and Dawgs are going to need to find a new place to play when EverBank Stadium undergoes massive renovations during the 2026 and 2027 seasons. Keep in mind this game is played at the home stadium of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Cocktail Party will be played in Jacksonville in 2024 and in 2025 before the renovations commence. Although some people are hoping for a rare home-and-home in this rivalry series like we saw in the mid-1990s when EverBank Stadium was first being built, the AP reported that that is probably not going to happen. They are looking at alternative neutral-site locations for this big game.
EverBank Stadium's renovations are supposed to reduce stadium capacity to around 40,000 in 2026 for Jaguars games and then be completely out of operation in 2027, as Jacksonville will temporarily have to look for a new place to play, too. Because Georgia and Florida can make more money at the neutral-site location, look for the 2026 game to be in Atlanta and the 2027 date to be ... in Florida.
Georgia is the "home team" in 2026, so Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta makes all the sense in the world for this turn in the rivalry. With Florida being the "home team" in 2027, look for the Cocktail Party to be played at one of these three other locations instead: Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. All of these could work.
Atlanta, Orlando, Miami and Tampa are all big event cities, so we know they can host this SEC game.
Georgia, Florida looking at alternative locations for Cocktail Party games
Of the four potential locations for the 2026 and 2027 games, they all make sense for so many reasons. Atlanta and Miami are the homes of two New Year's Six games. Tampa may not have that, but it has hosted national championships and Super Bowls before as well. As for Orlando, Camping World has proven to be a great Labor Day Weekend neutral-site location. Plus, that city has so many hotels.
If I had to guess, the Jaguars will play the 2027 NFL season in Orlando. Camping World can support an NFL franchise for a year. Keep in mind that Hard Rock Stadium is home to the Miami Dolphins and Raymond James Stadium is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Whatever stadium this game decides to be played at in 2027 must coordinate with the NFL team so the turf can have a breather.
Although Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has long been a proponent of having this game played in Athens and Gainesville on a rotating basis, it has everything to do with recruiting, as opposed to optics and atmosphere. With Red River becoming an SEC game, as well as the Southwest Classic between Arkansas and Texas A&M, just make it so that recruits can go to these big games and watch.
It may not be the solution everyone wants, but Atlanta and another Floridian metropolis should work.