The 126th Army-Navy Game is played on Saturday 12 December 2026 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. America’s oldest service academy rivalry pits the Army Black Knights of the United States Military Academy against the Navy Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy in a standalone December fixture that has been played every year since 1930. The 2026 edition marks the first Army-Navy Game held at MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Giants and New York Jets.
What is the Army-Navy Game?
The Army-Navy Game is the annual college football rivalry between the United States Military Academy (Army) and the United States Naval Academy (Navy). It is the flagship fixture of the service academy football calendar and the centrepiece of a three-game rotation that also involves the Air Force Falcons, with the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy awarded to whichever academy wins the most games among the three over the course of the season. First played in 1890, Army-Navy is the oldest FBS rivalry still staged every year and is widely regarded as the most unique spectacle in American college sport.
The game is played after conference championship weekend and is the final FBS regular-season game of the year, occupying its own dedicated Saturday afternoon television window each December. It is attended by the President of the United States more often than any other sporting event, with the sitting President traditionally conducting the coin toss and crossing the field at halftime to switch sides between the Army and Navy cadet sections in a symbolic gesture of military unity.
When is the Army-Navy Game?
The 2026 Army-Navy Game kicks off on Saturday 12 December 2026, with a scheduled mid-afternoon Eastern Time start. CBS traditionally holds the exclusive broadcast rights and schedules the game in its 3:00pm ET window, flanked by extended pre-game and post-game programming. The full week leading up to the game features march-on ceremonies, the prisoner exchange of midshipmen and cadets studying at the opposite academy, and the traditional pep rallies at each academy.
Where is the Army-Navy Game?
The 2026 edition is played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. MetLife, home to the New York Giants and Jets, has a capacity of 82,500 for football and is making its Army-Navy Game debut. Traditionally the fixture rotates between Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, and Gillette Stadium near Boston, with occasional appearances at other NFL venues. The 2027 Army-Navy Game is already scheduled for Lincoln Financial Field, which has hosted the fixture more often than any other venue over the past three decades.
Key Contenders
Navy leads the all-time series with 63 wins to Army’s 54, with seven ties and one cancelled game due to rain in 1928. Army enjoyed a run of dominance from 2016 through 2020, winning five consecutive meetings to reclaim parity in the overall series, before Navy’s recent resurgence under head coach Brian Newberry. Navy’s triple-option attack under Newberry and Army’s run-heavy offensive system under head coach Jeff Monken have produced several of the closest Army-Navy Games in recent memory. Both programmes play in the American Conference following Army’s move to the league for the 2024 season, and their respective regular-season records often carry conference title implications as well as service academy bragging rights.
How to Watch
In the United States, CBS holds exclusive Army-Navy Game broadcast rights and carries the fixture on its flagship network every year, with Paramount+ streaming the game for CBS subscribers. In Canada, the game airs on TSN and TSN+. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Sky Sports includes Army-Navy within its college football rights package and carries the game live on Sky Sports NFL. International viewers can stream the game via ESPN Player in Europe and the CBS international streaming network in select territories. Armed Forces Network delivers the game to United States military personnel stationed worldwide.
History and Records
Army and Navy first met on 29 November 1890 at West Point in a 24-0 Navy victory. The rivalry has been played every year since 1930, surviving both World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic (when the 2020 edition moved to Michie Stadium at West Point without spectators). Famous editions include the 1926 meeting at Chicago’s Soldier Field that helped crown Navy as national champions, the 1963 game played less than two weeks after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis’s dominant Army teams of the mid-1940s. The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy was established in 1972 and has since become a central prize of the service academy football season.
Navy leads the modern-era series and has won more Heisman Trophies than Army, including Joe Bellino (1960) and Roger Staubach (1963), while Army’s last Heisman came from Pete Dawkins in 1958. The game has been televised nationally since the 1960s and became a CBS property in 1996.
Tickets and Attendance
Tickets for the 2026 Army-Navy Game at MetLife Stadium are sold through the host venue’s official box office, the academies’ respective alumni associations, and the official Army-Navy ticket exchange. Service academy alumni, active duty military personnel and cadet families receive priority allocations. Public release tickets are available through Ticketmaster and secondary markets. The game typically attracts crowds of 70,000 or more, with attendances regularly exceeding 80,000 when played at larger NFL venues. Prices range from around $75 for upper-tier seats to several hundred dollars for lower-bowl and club seating.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the 2026 Army-Navy Game?
Saturday 12 December 2026, with kick-off in the mid-afternoon Eastern Time window.
Where is the Army-Navy Game being played?
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, making its Army-Navy Game debut.
How can I watch the Army-Navy Game?
CBS and Paramount+ in the United States, TSN in Canada, Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, and ESPN Player internationally.
Who leads the all-time Army-Navy series?
Navy leads the all-time series with 63 wins to Army’s 54, with seven ties.