Colleges: Florida-Georgia

Jacksonville: Home sweet home

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published October 25, 2005

It all started with the Great Depression.

Jacksonville has been home to the Florida-Georgia series since 1933, with the exception of 1994 and 1995 (because of stadium renovations).

Before that, the game bounced around without a permanent home. Games were played in Gainesville, Athens, Ga., Savannah, Ga., and even Tampa (a 16-0 win for the Bulldogs in 1919).

The game was moved permanently to Jacksonville in 1933 during the Great Depression. Both schools were charter members of the SEC that season, the depression was in full bloom, the economy in shambles.

In Florida, land values had crashed and to make matters worse, there was a Mediterranean Fruit Fly epidemic that ruined much of the state's citrus crop and the state was still trying to recover from two major hurricanes in the 1920s.

In an effort to boost attendance, officials from both schools got together to brainstorm about a neutral location that would be easily accessible for fans at both schools, as well as inexpensive.

Jacksonville was the unanimous winner.

That first season, the game was a sellout with 22,000. With everything going on in the country, that was a huge accomplishment. Contrast that with the 1933 South Carolina/Notre Dame game, which drew 25 percent of its normal attendance.

The schools recently signed an agreement that will keep the game in Jacksonville until at least 2010.

[Last modified October 25, 2005, 06:24:02]