The season-opening matchup between the No. 1 UConn and No. 20 Louisville women’s basketball teams has been moved to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Originally slated to be played at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the Nov. 4 game was moved due to the government shutdown, which is in its 24th day.
“We’ve made the decision to move the 2025 Peraton Armed Forces Classic to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md,” ESPN’s vice president of events Clint Overby said in a statement. “For more than a decade, this event has celebrated the lives and contributions of our military, and we’re appreciative of the Naval Academy for helping provide a first-class venue for the first-ever women’s college basketball matchup that will showcase perennial powers Louisville and UConn.”
An ESPN spokesperson told Front Office Sports that the network explored options to keep the game in Germany before ultimately deciding to move the game to the Naval Academy in order to continue “highlighting the men and women of our armed services.”
Active duty military are among the federal employees going without pay amid the government shutdown. CT Insider reported on Oct. 16 that Ramstein Air Base—where over 16,200 U.S. military personnel are stationed as well as civilians and contractors—had not been in communication with ESPN since Oct. 6.
Louisville coach Jeff Walz expressed confidence during media day on Wednesday that the game would not be played in Germany. A day prior, UConn coach Geno Auriemma brought some levity to the situation.
“Is this a Pentagon question or a White House question? Am I going to get arrested if I say the wrong answer?” Auriemma joked. “Has there been any kind of release on any of that yet? Somebody said there may be some kind of definitive answer today to that.”
Official announcements came late Thursday evening from both programs. The game will be broadcast Nov. 4 at 5:30 PM on ESPN.
Sports have mostly avoided the shutdown’s impacts. The Marine Corps Marathon, which threatened to cancel if the shutdown went into race week, is happening as planned this weekend, while the service academies—including Navy—are continuing with their normal sports schedules. The academies fund their sports separately from the federal government.
