Getty Image
You can count on things getting pretty rowdy when Florida and Georgia face off in what is known as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,” and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation into multiple videos of police violently arresting some spectators that made the rounds thanks to what unfolded during this year’s showdown.
The Florida Gators have been going toe-to-toe with the Georgia Bulldogs in an annual neutral-site showdown in Jacksonville since the 1930s, and it’s hard to top the atmosphere we’re treated to when tens of thousands of college football fans flock to the city for the latest installment of one of the most storied rivalries college football has to offer.
A good chunk of that electric energy can be credited to the adult beverages that tend to be flowing very freely in the parking lot before the game as well as in the stadium when things kick off.
The contest was dubbed the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party by a sportswriter in the 1950s, but a number of alcohol-fueled incidents led to both schools and the city of Jacksonville eventually distancing themselves from the moniker they once embraced.
On Saturday, a Georgia team that had won seven of the last eight matchups extended its current winning streak in the rivalry to four games with a 34-20 win over Florida, and according to News4Jax, at least six people were arrested and hit with criminal charges due to what went down over the course of the day.
It seems safe to assume some of those people were captured in the viral videos where police officers were not shy about getting very physical with fans they were attempting to subdue, including one where a cop was seen repeatedly punching an older member of the Gators faithful while trying to detain him.
It just means more in the SEC pic.twitter.com/vBlGwKoTP0
— Ohio’s Tate (@BarstoolTate) November 2, 2024
There was also a clip of a Bulldogs fan who went toe-to-toe with a couple of cops after one of them attempted to take him down with a stun gun before throwing a flurry of blows after failing to adequately tase him.
Plenty of people who saw those videos thought the officers in question crossed the line, and according to a statement the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office issued on Saturday night, they are conducting internal “administrative reviews” to determine if the officers in question violated policy.
The Florida-Georgia game will be returning to Jacksonville next season before a 30-year run at EverBank Stadium comes to a temporary end thanks to the renovations that will see the two teams face off at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in 2026 and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa in 2027 due to renovations that will delay their return until 2028.