Florida, UGA reach agreement to keep cocktail party in Jacksonville

Unlike some other traditions of the sport of late, one of the best pregame in college football will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

Back in January, it was reported that, with the current contract set to expire after the 2016 season, a new deal between the City of Jacksonville and Florida and Georgia was expected that would keep the annual World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party at EverBank Field. Very late Tuesday, the Athens Banner-Herald reported that there is a signed term sheet between the two schools that will keep the game in Jacksonville through 2021.

The Banner-Herald obtained the document through an open records request.

Per the language in the term sheet, "[t]he City of Jacksonville will draw up a long-form contract to be executed by the schools and the city by April 15,” the paper writes. Each school will receive a $125,000 “signing bonus” as part of the new agreement, and each will then receive $250,000 annually for playing the game in Jacksonville.

Subsequent to that report, all sides announced that the agreement has been finalized. The city’s mayor’s office also confirmed that the two sides will enter into what was called a “renegotiation window” two years into the agreement in an effort to avoid what was essentially a last-minute agreement this time around.

Stadium renovations, specifically the reduction in premium seating from 11,000 to 8,000 for NFL Jaguars games, had caused a delay in reaching a new agreement; typically, a new deal is reached at least a year before the old one is set to expire. Not surprisingly, construction language will be written into the new contract. From the paper:

Jacksonville is responsible for creating “a customized seating solution if any club seats are removed for stadium club seat renovations,” and schools will review and approve such renovations.

Since 1933, the Bulldogs and Gators have played in Jacksonville every season but two -- 1994 in Gainesville, 1995 in Athens. That two-year hiatus from Jacksonville was caused by the old Gator Bowl Stadium being torn down and Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, now EverBank Field, being built on the same site.

Hey @GatorsFB, 5 more years in Jacksonville! #FLGA pic.twitter.com/wdqkHllNQs

— GAFL Football Game (@FLvsGA) March 16, 2016