The contract to play the annual Florida-Georgia college football game at Jacksonville's EverBank Field expires in '16, and officials from both schools and the city "aren't prepared yet to start negotiations because they're waiting to see the Jaguars' plans for renovations," according to Gene Frenette of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. The plan is to upgrade "club seat areas in the east and west stands, a place normally reserved for the wealthiest boosters of each school." Those renovations are "expected to reduce the club seat capacity" in '16 from 11,000 to around 8,000. Jaguars President Mark Lamping said that it will "improve the game-day experience and be a more appropriate number for the city’s NFL market size." But Frenette noted as it pertains Georgia-Florida, "two possible sticking points for the schools must be ironed out." The first is "replacing an estimated 3,000 club seats so that stadium capacity for the SEC showdown is back up to 82,917, as mandated in the contract." Another issue is "how those temporary replacement seats, both in terms of comfort and aesthetic feel of the surroundings, will be received by the school’s top-level donors." But sources said that contract negotiations for the event "will go smoothly because all parties have the same objective: keeping the game in Jacksonville." Frenette noted there is "uneasiness" about it being mid-October and "not having a definitive date for negotiations." UF AD Jeremy Foley said that there will be "no starting point for negotiating until the schools see the Jaguars’ plans for how the stadium will look" for '16 and beyond (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 10/11).
