JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida-Georgia football rivalry, long known as the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party -- a nickname both universities have tried to shirk -- has played out in Jacksonville since 1933.
This match-up between SEC opponents is one of the most prominent rivalry games in college football. Depending on which school you believe, the game was first played in either 1904 in Macon, Georgia, or 1915 in Jacksonville.
The rivalry has been renewed annually since 1926, except for the 1943 season when Florida did not field a team due to World War II. For most of its history, the game has been played at neutral sites. From 1916 to 1932, it was played at several sites in Georgia (Athens and Savannah), and Florida (Tampa, Gainesville and Jacksonville).
Each year since 1933, the game has been held in Jacksonville, except for 1994 and 1995, when the contest was held at the respective schools' campus stadiums due to the reconstruction of what was the Gator Bowl into what is now EverBank Field after the city landed the Jacksonville Jaguars expansion NFL team.
While the two universities agree that Georgia leads the overall series, they disagree as to the overall series record due to the disputed 1904 game. As of the 2016 contest, Georgia leads with a 50-43-2 record by its reckoning, and 49-43-2 by Florida's count. Georgia dominated the series before 1951 and had a 15-5 record in the 1970s and 1980s. Florida compiled an 18-3 record against Georgia from 1990 to 2010. Since 2010, the series has been split, 3-3.
The designated "home" team alternates from year to year, with ticket distribution split evenly between the fans of the two teams.For many years, the "home" team wore their home jerseys and the visitors their white visiting jerseys. Since 2014, both teams have worn their home jerseys.
On March 16, 2016, the Universities of Florida and University of Georgia signed an agreement to keep the series in Jacksonville through 2021