You’re playing neutral site games in your own backyards? Obviously, there must be some serious five-dimensional chess play going on here, because for the life of me I can’t figure out why you wouldn’t play these games on a home-and-home basis.
Way to shit on your fans, in other words.
Get The Picture 
I’d imagine it’s the only way one of both programs would agree. Without knowing, I’ll ASSume FSU didn’t want to play at LSU.
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This is a damn joke … the two fan bases should tell the schools to piss off when the ticket order forms go out. Of course, the schools won’t care because the money will be coming from Mickey. Come to think of it … Mickey wants people to come to Orlando for a long weekend or make a week out of it.
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In stadiums with less seats no less.
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FWIW there are fewer seats in JAX than either Sanford Stadium or the Swamp. Just sayin.’
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For the life of me I can’t figure out why you wouldn’t play these games on a home-and-home basis.
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Urban Meyer looked into this and there’s no story here. He doesn’t know why someone would make up something like that.
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No collusion or obstruction either. Should, must be fake news then. Hmmmmm.
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Did the ADs’ refused to be questioned as well?
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TDS. He’s living for free in your noggin.
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I don’t see much difference in those “neutral sites” and the Dawgs and Gators playing in Jax every year.
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Orlando is good for those Tampa and South Florida FSU fans.
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You may not like it, but don’t pretend there isn’t a big difference between a series going back to 1933 and a one-off two-game set.
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Yeah, that is a pretty silly response, I mean Athens and Gainesville are so like Jax…amirite?
But truly, what the hell were they thinking? Great series idea, but doesn’t showcase the home team’s traditions to either visiting team’s fans. Love going to other team’s stadiums and absorbing the experience. Nutso, you tell Joe Alleve was involved in this.
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Other than the fact that it’s played in Jacksonville every year and is as convenient a location for all the Georgia fans in South GA as anyone in Florida, while this series is a defacto home and home and New Orleans is not anywhere close to central Florida nor Orlando close to Western Louisiana…. other than that, you’re exactly right.
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Except we don’t get the swamp lizards at Mercedes Benz. Maybe we could schedule Grant Field. They need a sellout crowd.
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It’s easy to believe that not much happens below the gnat line but there are a lot of major donors in south Georgia. In addition to that money, Jacksonville is a huge payday wrapped in a longtime tradition. Make the game more lucrative in Athens and guess where it will be played? Until then, get over it.
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I wouldn’t go that far.
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Tradition versus Greed. That help?
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Bad take man. One is about the money and the other is about golf/beach trips, drinking and money.
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^^This.
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“We make more money, you spend a whole lot more money, and you get to watch your team in two stadiums that aren’t as good as ours or the other team’s!”
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Now that we’ve got a decade or so of these neutral site games behind us… can anyone name me some of these games that are looked at as “classics”?
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Especially with how cool each teams uniforms would look in contrast to the home team’s stadium. I guess at least they get to go to the Superdome and whatever they have in Orlando.
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UT vs VT in Bristol.
(not really)
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But with 162 thousand seats available. Money talks..screw the fans.
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$$$, LSU has to pay off Les and soon Coach O. They may soon be in worse shape than Knoxville
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I’ll take “How Much Money Is Too Much” for $100, Alex.
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Fans have proven they like these games…both fan bases will travel well for this.
I wouldn’t mind seeing UGA playing Texas in The Benz & Jerry World…the players like them too…Schools use the games as recruiting tools..see what Bama has done in Georgia.
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For those of us who are season ticket holders, I would rather see that game in Athens than in Atlanta like we get next year with Notre Dame rather than have to pay extra for a home game in Atlanta. I would also be more willing to buy a ticket to go to Austin than to Dallas.
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Of course, but that’s not an option. It’s the 3rd party cash that’s making these match ups happen. It’s like saying I’d rather play the Orange Bowl game home and home instead of in Miami. These are essentially pre-season bowl games.
The schools are doing some home and homes on their own but mostly you’re seeing 3 to 4 games vs. hopelessly outmatched state u. playing for a check every year.
So until the big schools are forced into playing each other, I’m fine with these sponsored neutral site match ups. At least it makes them happen.
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I hate it because I spend my money on a contribution and 3 tickets … then, I get told I have to pay extra for what amounts to a home game.
It sucks. I also understand that it’s purely about the money.
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I think “opposing team’s fans” is why they agreed to it this way. If a team’s fans will travel, how many seats can be justified for them in the on-campus stadium? I don’t think anyone wants the situation Notre Dame had last year versus us– that just looks bad for the home school. This way the home school avoids the problem of how many/how few opposing fans to allow in.
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Sorry, I don’t believe that the ADs considered anything regarding the fans when makin* that decision. A much bigger deal was the same financial consideration we get from the WLOCP. While our take from years that would be in Athens is less than we get from a home game, our take from years we would be in Pigtown is more than if we played there, so we make ove4 a 2 year cycle more in Jax than we would home and home.
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My skin ain’t in that game so I can understand a different perspective. I just can’t make it to enough of them to make it worth the investment.
Of course I could have used a couple of tickets at face value for the natty. Ouch! Still think I come out agead “a la carte.”
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You probably do come out ahead on a game by game basis. I just come back to the day I give up my season tickets is likely the day I’m either 6 feet under or I’ve decided I’ll do other things on Saturdays.
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Yep..about the money. As I posted above..you can get 162,000 in Bristol Motor Speedway. Of course, it’s not meant to be a football venue, and you can barely see the field without binoculars, but it’s a lot of money. That’s how little these people g-a-s about traditional CF…and the fans.
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No real interest in watching a game in Dallas or Atlanta. Austin and Athens? Hell yeah, sign me up!
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FWIW, Texas does home and home a lot with other schools. They have both Maryland (away) and USC (Home) this season, LSU (home) next year and in 2020 (away) as well. Would LOVE to see this series come to fruition. I too would much rather see UT’s stadium than another NFL venue.
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My feeling as well. Have nothing against the neutral site games because it is the only way schools play the better opponents, but for UGA a home and home is always preferable just to get the experience of the trip to see what another CFB experience is like. One day we have a good reason to see Kyle Field…perhaps before I kick the bucket.
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For those that went (not me), the experience at ND was wonderful (by all reports on GTP).
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Awful. If we play UT, it needs to be Athens and Austin. I can watch a game in Jerry World when the Falcons play the Cowboys.
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You should rethink that. Texas vs uga in Austin….not much better than that
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I’d rather play a two-fer with a legit team in Atlanta and wherever than play Austin Peay at home.
Until “they” mandate all FBS games are to be played vs. other FBS teams, this is how you’re going to get about half of your non-conf., non-traditional match ups. Without these KO classics with sponsors LSU and FSU would be playing directional state and Florida A&M, respectively. I don’t see that as an improvement for anyone including the fans of those two schools.
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BTW, Derek, I looked up who Austin Peay actually was on the google web page. I believe you might be the perfect individual to light up why we even scheduled them for a variety of reasons.
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I don’t even know what state they’re in but I’ll ck it out and see what you might be getting at. I shall return!
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Masonic beginnings?
Ranked 22nd in FCS preseason?
I liked that the inspiration for Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore is an alum.
Not sure why you may be getting at. Other than why play FCS teams at all?
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Until the fans stop buying tickets to these horrid one off neutral site games, the programs will continue to take the big money from the sponsors and networks. LSU and FSU will make more money than they would with a home and home, that is the only reason they would agree to this.
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You’re right, JC. At this point, I don’t plan to buy the UVA game at MBS for exactly this reason.
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That seems like it will be a horrible game too. UVA is not a good program. Unless they sign some Heisman caliber player and/or turn things around completely we should run them out of the place.
I don’t see those games as great for recruiting either. I think it’s better to get a kid on campus and let him see what the whole experience is like than taking him to a game in a place he knows the team doesn’t play. Also, it’s not like UVA or Bama or whoever is not from Georgia is going to get in front of a bunch of kids who normally wouldn’t see them. The stadium isn’t full of high school players who got tickets to see the game, it’s full of fans who paid a lot for a ticket to see their team play.
My view of these games is that they are a way to take away a home game from a program by paying the program more than they would make hosting a game.
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Reading these posts for some time and with much sense of frustration afterwards, but you have posted well to describe that frustration. You bet that the big thing missed by these games is that recruit experiencing Sanford/Athens in a connective way. Hell, if you want visitors to experience Atlanta nightlife after the game, they have a short trip from Athens, but I can remember Athens being the place many visited for the musical nightlife that once outplayed every spot around and recruits could see that their future life at UGA comes with a few local perks.
And that’s not even mentioning the local merchants benefiting to make Athens an even larger nightspot.
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The kids like the idea of getting to play in these arena’s…they see the pros playing there, it’s appealing to them in that aspect of recruiting. Bama/UGA etc are recruiting kids that most certainly have the next level on their mind. That’s my take anyways….it worked for Saban for sure, he swears by these games.
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I think it is the quality matchup, not the venue. Fans and coaches want better challenges, it is the coaches who shy away from better scheduling. Big games, on big stages, are what athletes dream of, and live for.
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I never understood the UVA matchup from the day it was announced.
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they’re throwing the Senator a bone, n’est pas?
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Easy to understand. UVA replaces a directional school in Athens with a de facto home game in ATL without a return trip. UVA also gives us another P5 game with little risk of losing. Now if we were also playing a neutral site game against them in DC it would be an awful move.
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I know this frustrates a lot of people, but I’m going to celebrate the fact these games are being played at all – even if it takes them being played in Orlando and New Orleans.
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Tallahassee disagrees.
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Powers in Tallahassee agreed with this…FSU runs that town.
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I know it sucks for the ticket buying fans, but these games are great for the vast majority of fans who don’t go to the games. Personally, I’d rally to get a 9th conference game before I’d agonize any about an amazing game being played just because it wasn’t going to be played where I want it to be.
Sadly, getting a 9th conference game would diminish the chances a game like this got scheduled in the first place.
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I have been saying for a while now, the SEC should mandate 2 P5 or BCS crasher out of conference games for each school. BCS Crasher would be approved with waver Boise St possibly Memphis or Houston.
I’ll take the 8 conference games, 2 P5 OOC, and fill in the remaining with cupcakes.
The SEC gets more marketable games. We get more good games but a schedule that a 85 scholarship limit team can survive. If you don’t schedule 2 P5 OOC games, issue a fine or reduced share of the SEC payout.
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Just like UGA playing in Atlanta? As long as UGA plays in Jax they should never play a kick-off game in ATL.
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You’d rather have a home game against Austin Peay?
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These games are not fair to the season ticket holders. I have to give the same amount to get a parking place in Athens, then have to pay extra for parking in Atl. The ticket prices are usually higher too. It also gives UGA one less game in Athens.
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Come on, season ticket holders purchase one less home game ticket too. I’d much rather pay a little more for a UVA type game in Atl than Austin Peay. And if you’re donating the $2500 necessary for a parking pass, you can afford to park in ATL.
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Do you buy season tickets?
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The Hokies had one of these in Charlotte it was packaged as a home game.
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Yeah or when Arky plays in Little rock… that would change things if season ticket holder’s got tickets as part of the package.
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Arkansas traditionally played part of its schedule in Little Rock because it is easier for more fans to get to Little Rock tgan Fayetteville. There is no pro stadium in Little Rock just War Memorial Stadium. My dad ha from Arkansas and lives near Little Rock.
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Was it in the season ticket package? When we have played in the Atlanta games, those were sold like road games with contribution minimums to be eligible to purchase in advance.
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Why does Mickey care where the game is played?
Why is it necessarily more money for each school for them to play a neutral site games as opposed to home and home?
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It;s the only way to get the big games scheduled. They are one and done, neutral site, big money, so teams line up to play in them when offered. Wouldn’t happen as often with two games required and one of them on the road, imo.
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The Atlanta Sports Council (with Chick-fil-a) combine with the WWL put up the money to entice the schools to play at MBS. The payout per team is higher for both than hosting a game, so the game gets played in Atlanta.
Change out the city and corporate partner and that’s how you get games in Orlando and New Orleans that should be played in Tallahassee and Baton Rouge.
Since these are regular season games, the players don’t even get a bowl game experience of business mixed with fun. It’s greed nothing more, nothing less.
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