Georgia, Clemson 'in talks' to move home-and-home series to neutral site

Georgia is reportedly “in talks right now” with Clemson about converting their previously-scheduled home-and-home series set for 2029-30 into a neutral site game, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. This follows a similar move with the Georgia-Florida State series, originally set for 2027-28, moving to a neutral-site game in 2028, per On3’s Brett McMurphy.

“We’re in talks right now,” Bulldogs athletic director Josh Brooks told the Banner-Herald on Friday after an athletic board meeting in Greensboro. “I’ve got to get through some other stuff first, but [Clemson athletic director Graham Neff] and I have been in talks and we’ll see how that evolves over time, but right now my primary focus is on the Florida State game and where that game is going to be played.”

Brooks also made clear “everything’s on the table right now” regarding the Clemson series. The Bulldogs and Tigers last played in 2024 in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium in 2021, both resulting in Georgia victories. The two longtime border rivals last participated in a home-and-home series in 2013-14. The series set for 2029-30 was originally agreed to in 2018.

Florida State AD Michael Alford confirmed the Seminoles and Bulldogs have received “aggressive proposals” from as many as seven cities that want to host their rescheduled neutral site game in 2028. McMurphy reported those sites include Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando and Tampa.

Brooks cited the SEC’s recent move to nine conference games as the reason for a broader shift away from home-and-home series in favor of more lucrative single neutral-site games. Georgia already has an annual non-conference series with in-state rival Georgia Tech that gives it 10 Power Four games every season. And given how heavily the College Football Playoff selection committee weighs losses compared to wins, adding an 11th Power Four game every two seasons proved problematic.

“The reality is when you go to nine conference games and Tech, adding that many games put us in a precarious situation with the number of home-and-homes we had scheduled,” Brooks told the ABH. “Instead of just eliminating those games altogether, we’re trying to find a way to keep as many of those on the schedule and the simplest way to do that would be to move to a neutral site.”

There’s also the financial benefit of neutral-site games compared to home-and-home series. Georgia anticipates receiving $8.5 million in ticket revenue from this season’s SEC game against Florida in Atlanta, compared to approximately $5.7 million for its home game vs. Auburn, per the ABH.