College football is a sport built around tradition, pageantry and the kind of raw, enduring passion that connects fans to their schools long after they’ve collected their diplomas.
Few events in college football embody its unique place in the American sports landscape quite like the Army-Navy Game.
The matchup, which marks the end of the FBS regular season, pits a pair of rival service academies against one another, with both teams entering the matchup every year hoping desperately to beat an opponent in a game that often defines their seasons.
Beneath those hard feelings, though, is a camaraderie of sorts, with the players lining up against each other knowing they’ll one day join forces to help serve their country.
Among the things that distinguishes the series is that unlike the vast majority of college football’s most storied rivalries, the game is almost exclusively played at a neutral site. Since 1943, Army and Navy have staged a game in West Point, New York or Annapolis, Maryland only once — and that came during the 2020 season, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Where’s the game taking place this year? Here’s what you need to know about the 2025 edition of the Army-Navy Game:
Where is the Army-Navy Game?
The 2025 Army-Navy Game will be held in Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium, the home venue of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
It will mark the seventh time the game has been held in Baltimore and the fifth time it has been played at M&T Bank Stadium. It was last played there in 2016, when Army snapped a 14-game losing streak in the series.
Why is the Army-Navy Game in Baltimore?
The Army-Navy Game has historically been held at neutral sites on the East Coast, as neither Army nor Navy have on-campus stadiums large enough to accommodate the huge crowds that the rivalry generally attracts.
The overwhelming majority of games between the Black Knights and Midshipmen have been played in Philadelphia, which is something of a midway point between Army’s campus in West Point, New York and Navy’s campus in Annapolis, Maryland.
Other cities along the eastern seaboard have hosted the game, though. New York and northern New Jersey have collectively been the second-most common site of Army-Navy Games aside from Philadelphia, even though they’re much closer to Army. Conversely, Baltimore and the greater Washington, D.C. area — which are significantly closer to Navy — have hosted the rivalry six times since 2000, with Saturday’s matchup marking the seventh occurrence.
What city has hosted the Army-Navy Game the most?
Philadelphia has hosted the most all-time Army-Navy Games, with 90. Here are the most common hosts of the rivalry:
- Philadelphia: 90
- New York: 11
- Baltimore: 7*
- East Rutherford, New Jersey: 5
- West Point: 4
- Annapolis: 3
* Includes Saturday’s game
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where is the Army-Navy Game? Rivalry matchup will be in Baltimore in 2025