JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – This weekend's Florida State-Boise State football game has been moved to Tallahassee because of Hurricane Dorian, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry announced Friday.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville at 7 p.m. Saturday, but it has been shifted to a noon kickoff at Doak Campbell Stadium, the Seminoles' home turf. Fans wishing to attend the game in the state capital can buy them for $10 each and can be purchased here. There is no reserved seating in Tallahassee and parking is free.
Curry said officials are working with Visit Jacksonville, the group in charge of promoting the city to tourists, to handle hotel cancelation fees. Tickets will be refunded.
"This was a difficult decision to make in conjunction with leaders of the universities," Curry said at a news conference held at the Duval County Emergency Operations Center on Thursday.
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The mayor said 17,000 of the 45,000 tickets sold for the game were local, meaning there would be nearly 30,000 people visiting Jacksonville when the city could be under evacuation orders.
"This isn't about a weather event happening during a potential game, this is about the ability to move people," Curry said. "This is about having thousands of people here from out of town when we may either be issuing evacuation orders or we may have counties south of us that have issued evacuation orders and are coming up our interstate. It would put too many people's lives at risk. ... It's not about a weather event on Saturday."
A local tour & transportation company is taking fans to the FSU-Boise State game in Tallahassee on Saturday morning. There are a few spots left! If you would like more information, please DM us on Twitter. #FSUvsBoiseState @BroncoSportsFB @FSUFootball
— Visit Jacksonville (@Visit_Jax) August 29, 2019
The decision was made to relocate the game from what would have been a neutral field to Tallahassee after university officials spoke with Jacksonville officials and Gov. Ron DeSantis' office.
"I want to thank the City of Jacksonville and Mayor Lenny Curry for their exceptional work in putting together what was going to be an outstanding event," FSU President John Thrasher said in a statement. "I also want to thank Governor Ron DeSantis and our city and county officials for their cooperation in staging a game on such short notice, particularly our local law enforcement agencies."
The change also impacts the broadcast of the game. Rather than being on EPSN's primary network in prime time, it will be televised on ESPNews, which is not carried on every cable and satellite television package. Check your program guide to be sure.
Fans who've purchased shuttle bus tickets ahead of time with the MyJTA app will automatically be refunded. While those refunds were being processed immediaately, due to the holiday weekend, customers can expect to see those funds credited on or before Tuesday. Customers who've purchased paper tickets may return them to JTA offices.