Georgia
Georgia-Georgia Tech game heading to home of NFL's Falcons in 2025
ATLANTA (AP) — Looking to boost revenue, Georgia Tech is shifting its game next season against rival Georgia to the home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
The annual contest, which normally rotates between campus stadiums, will be held at 75,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Nov. 29, 2025.
Georgia Tech will receive $10 million from stadium operator AMB Sports and Entertainment to move the game from its campus facility, 51,913-seat Bobby Dodd Stadium, located less than 2 miles away.
It will be the first time since Bobby Dodd Stadium opened in 1913 that the rivalry known as “Clean, Old Fashioned Hate” hasn’t been played at a campus site. Georgia’s Sanford Stadium opened in 1929, and the game has rotated annually between those two facilities ever since.
The game next year will end that tradition.
“We know that some of you may be apprehensive that Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate will be played off-campus,” Georgia Tech athletic director J Batt wrote in a letter to fans. “Please know that we understand that concern and know that this was not a decision that was made lightly.”
Georgia Tech has a contract to play one home game a year at Mercedes-Benz Stadium through 2026, though the Georgia game was not part of the initial deal.
Batt said the revamped contract was too good to pass up in the NIL era, which has forced schools to aggressively pursue additional revenue. Georgia Tech recently announced a $500 million fundraising campaign for the renovation of its historic football stadium as well as other campus projects.
“As part of the new agreement, AMBSE will provide us with a $10 million guarantee just to play the 2025 Georgia Tech-Georgia game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a transformative revenue lift for Tech athletics,” Batt said.
While considered a Georgia Tech home game, the Georgia contest will not be part of the Yellow Jackets season-ticket package. Batt said his school’s fans would receive priority in purchasing tickets, but the Bulldogs’ far larger fan base is likely to turn the game into a de facto home game for the red and black.
“Playing Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate at Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be limited to 2025,” Batt pointed out. “The Georgia Tech-Georgia game will return to a renovated Bobby Dodd Stadium in 2027.”
Georgia has plenty of familiarity with Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is the site of the Southeastern Conference championship game each year. The Bulldogs also opened this season with a 34-3 victory over Clemson in Atlanta.
“We always enjoy playing in a first-class venue like Mercedes-Benz Stadium,” Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said. “This move will only enhance the long-standing tradition of the Georgia-Georgia Tech game and will provide another outstanding event for our fans.”
This year’s Georgia-Georgia Tech game will be played at Sanford Stadium on Nov. 29, the Friday night after Thanksgiving.
The Bulldogs, ranked No. 5 heading into a game Saturday at No. 1 Texas, have dominated the state rivalry since the mid-1960s. They currently have a six-game winning streak over Georgia Tech and a 71-41-5 lead in the series.
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Gulfstream recently announced a $5 million investment in Georgia education, welcoming students and leaders to its Savannah headquarters.
ATHENS, Ga. – Designated hitter Daniel Jackson and centerfielder Rylan Lujo combined for nine RBI Sunday, leading fifth-ranked Georgia to a 12-1 win over LSU at Foley Field.
Georgia improved to 41-11 overall, 21-6 in the SEC, while LSU dropped to 29-24 overall and 9-18 in conference play.
The Tigers return to action at 6:30 p.m. CT Thursday when they play host to Florida in Game 1 of a three-game SEC series in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. Thursday’s game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and streamed on SEC Network +.
“Georgia won the moments in this series,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “They’re going to score, so you’ve got to capitalize against them when you have scoring opportunities on offense.”
Georgia starting pitcher Caden Aoki (8-0) was the winner, limiting LSU to one run on four hits in 5.0 innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.
LSU right-hander Casan Evans (2-3), making his first appearance since April 17 versus Texas A&M, started the game Sunday and was charged with the loss, working 1.2 innings and allowing four runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
“I thought Casan’s stuff looked great, and that’s good for him from a health standpoint,” Johnson said. “He’s a guy that the more he pitches, the better he is, so there might have been a little bit of rust, but I thought he competed fine.”
Georgia struck for four runs in the bottom of the second inning in an outburst highlighted by Jackson’s two-out, two-run single and an RBI single by second baseman Ryan Black.
The Tigers narrowed the gap to 4-1 in the third when designated hitter Omar Serna Jr. delivered an RBI single.
Georgia extended its lead to 7-1 in the fourth as Jackson launched a two-run homer and centerfielder Lujo lined a run-scoring single.
Lujo unloaded a grand slam in the fifth, giving the Bulldogs an 11-1 advantage.
The Georgia baseball team had long since poured out of the Foley Field home dugout and the water bottles that were thrown on the field in jubilation had been cleaned up.
The Bulldogs celebration that carried into center field after a 13-8 victory on Saturday night over LSU on May 9 had ended and players had doused coach Wes Johnson with blue sports drink.
Now, some 20 minutes later, it was postgame photo time for the freshly minted 2026 SEC regular season champions.
They gathered in front of the spot on the right field wall where the previous seven seasons of Georgia SEC championships were listed, the last in 2008. Above them on the video board was a graphic that recognized this year’s team as SEC champions.
“Watching the program grow in such a shot amount of time, it’s awesome,” said pitcher Paul Farley, who has been with the Bulldogs for all three seasons with Johnson and got the win in relief Saturday. “We’ve got four SEC games left and to be able to hang that up there the SEC champs already it’s amazing.”
Farley was speaking figuratively because the 2026 numbers weren’t on the outfield fence just yet.
Fifth-ranked Georgia (40-11, 20-6 SEC) still has a chance to put a College World Series trip up there in left field for the first time since 2008 and in a best case scenario add another national championship year in right field with the 1990 season.
“SEC champs is great, but obviously we want to do bigger and better things,” Farley said.
LSU, the team that won it all last season, was still around having a postgame talk on the artificial turf field long after the game ended.
Johnson was with LSU in 2023 as pitching coach when it won another College World Series.
“It’s massive,” Johnson said of this latest championship. “Anytime you can win this league, man, it’s so hard. Then win it outright. It’s something you want to check off on your list of things you’ve ever accomplished. It’s 10 weekends of just meat house grinding.”
Johnson said he didn’t know that the dominoes had fallen Saturday to set up Georgia being able to clinch except that he saw that Texas lost at Tennessee as the result flashed on the scoreboard.
Texas A&M also lost twice at Ole Miss to set up the clinch for Georgia.
“I’m calling pitches, I’m locked in,” Johnson said.
He said assistant coach Will Coggin told him when the game ended that ‘We’re champs.’”
Many of the players knew.
“We had a few inside operatives, I’d say, tell us,” Farley said.
Shortstop Kolby Branch said he didn’t know “until the water bottles started flying.”
Branch said another Georgia team loaded with transfers grew closer in the fall and built relationships that have turned into wins this season.
Johnson said winning the regular season title in his third season as coach in the age of the transfer portal and NIL “means a lot.”
Johnson mentioned Farley, Branch and Tre Phelps being at Georgia for all three of his seasons.
“Seeing where we were in the first fall, we forget this used to be dirt and grass,” Johnson said standing on on turf field. “And we didn’t have the cool building and we only had one batting cage, all the stuff we’ve been able to do since we’ve been here. The other side is just understanding true belief and understanding what guys can do.”
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