JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Uncertainty around the future of the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville has the event holding off on extending its contract with the city past the 2028 season, with the game’s leadership citing stadium renovations and a potential Playoff expansion, as reported by our news partners at the Jacksonville Daily Record.
The city is set to file legislation with Jacksonville City Council that would extend the city’s contract with the Gator Bowl one year into the opening of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ “Stadium of the Future,” according to a memo presented to the Mayor’s Budget Review Committee.
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That legislation would guarantee that the Gator Bowl plays one more game in Jacksonville following the renovation as part of the 2028 bowl season.
The renovations to EverBank Stadium would keep the Gator Bowl from Jacksonville for the 2027 bowl season. The city’s current contract with the game runs through the end of the 2026 season, expiring March 31, 2027.
City spokesperson Phil Perry said there have not been substantial talks between the Gator Bowl and the city to extend past the 2028 bowl season.
Alex Alston, director of the city’s Office of Sports and Entertainment, said the decision not to extend the contract further was made by the Gator Bowl, which was eyeing potential changes to college football’s postseason structure and the potential expansion of the CFP.
“In no way does it reflect the city’s desire to not continue our partnership with the Gator Bowl long term, just that those CFP details might affect how we would proceed in the future,” Alston said.
Speaking with the Daily Record on Sept. 25, Gator Bowl President Greg McGarity offered a different account than the city’s, saying the Gator Bowl’s hesitancy to renew the contract was based on uncertainties regarding the renovations to EverBank Stadium.
McGarity said the Gator Bowl wanted to test-run the event in the “Stadium of the Future” in 2028 before finalizing operational costs and working on further contract extensions.
CFP expansion was “part of” the Gator Bowl’s concerns, but McGarity said he was “bullish” about its survival under a 24-team model.
“If we were worried about expansion we wouldn’t have done anything (with extending the contract),” McGarity said. “Florida is a destination (where) all teams want to be.”
TaxSlayer’s contract to sponsor the Gator Bowl runs through 2027.
McGarity, a former University of Georgia athletic director, took over the operations in 2021. The contest has been played since 1946.
Click here to read the full story on the Jacksonville Daily Record website.