Army-Navy Is Always Big. This Year’s Game Holds Special Significance

The annual Army-Navy game has always been a special outlier in the world of college football, but this year’s edition is carrying quite a bit more competitive juice—for not only the two military academies but also broadcaster CBS Sports and the entirety of college football. 

The 125th edition of what is colloquially known as America’s Game, set for Saturday afternoon at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., will mark the first meeting in seven years with each holding winning records, and both programs are also bowl-bound. The on-field success defining this year’s game, however, goes much further. 

Army is currently ranked No. 19 nationally, its highest placement since 2018. The 11–1 Black Knights were previously in the mix for a slot in the College Football Playoff, and their only loss this year is to Notre Dame, the CFP’s No. 7 seed. Navy, meanwhile, carries an 8–3 record and also is still finding a way to compete strongly in a sport rapidly being transformed by unprecedented financial scale and ambition. 

Both Army and Navy, as military academies, do not allow their players to accept NIL (name, image, and likeness) money, nor do they participate in the transfer portal. While Army is headed to the Dec. 28 Independence Bowl against Marshall, and Navy will face Oklahoma in the Dec. 27 Armed Forces Bowl, the upcoming rivalry game arguably means more, and it’s the single-biggest revenue driver for each football program.  

“It’s a game and a season really all of its own,” said Army coach Jeff Monken. “We’ve had a good year. You make it a great year by winning this game.”

Media Matters

The Army-Navy game has averaged more than seven million viewers over the past decade, a figure that compares favorably to some recent title games in major conferences. Part of that robust standing owes to the contest typically holding an unchallenged slot on the college football calendar after most other conferences finish their regular-season schedules. The heightened national standing for both teams could further fuel an even higher figure for this year.

CBS Sports, which has exclusively shown the Army-Navy game since 1996, this week completed a 10-year rights extension that will continue the deal through at least 2038. 

“America’s Game is special, and has always been about more than football,” said CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson. 

Plenty of Pageantry

Saturday’s event, meanwhile, has been preceded by a full week of ancillary events, including a fan fest and a football camp for military children with former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III, the son of two Army sergeants. President-elect Donald Trump, meanwhile, is scheduled to attend the game. 

“Given all the changes that have happened [in college football] this year, the fact that Army and Navy had such a significant and positive performance this year, it gives us a really good feeling on how both teams, and academy athletics broadly, can remain relevant in however college sports shapes up to be,” USAA chief marketing officer Francesco Lagutaine tells Front Office Sports. The financial services company is the presenting sponsor of the Army-Navy game.

The ticket resale market for the game is hovering around $200 each for low-end, get-in seats. That figure is more than twice the comparable level for the upcoming Armed Forces Bowl, and more than 10 times the level for the Independence Bowl.