History will be made two years from now when Navy is next scheduled to host its football game against Notre Dame.
The Capital Gazette has learned that Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, will be the site of the 2026 Navy-Notre Dame game. A contract has been finalized and a formal announcement is likely to be made next week, multiple sources confirmed to the Capital Gazette on Friday.
It will mark the first time the Navy-Notre Dame game is played in the New England region. The Fighting Irish and Midshipmen have never played farther north than New Jersey, which is where this year’s game is being held.
Notre Dame, which has hosted 38 games in the series, is the home team in odd years and the game is almost always played on its campus in South Bend, Indiana.
Navy is the home team in even years and has never hosted Notre Dame in Annapolis. Whenever Navy is the home team, the game is played in an NFL stadium and has been held in a variety of cities.
Foxborough becomes the 11th different city to host the Navy-Notre Dame game, joining Dublin, Ireland (three times); Baltimore (23); Cleveland, Ohio (11); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (nine); East Rutherford, New Jersey (eight); Landover; Orlando, Florida; and Jacksonville, Florida (once each).
In a rarity, a Notre Dame home game in the series was held at Aviva Stadium in Dublin last year. That was to make up for the 2020 meeting, which was scheduled for Dublin but was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Next year’s game will be held at Notre Dame Stadium on Nov. The 2026 contest will be held at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 31.
Negotiations between the Navy and Notre Dame athletic departments and officials with Kraft Sports & Entertainment, which books events for Gillette Stadium, have been ongoing dating back almost a year.
Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Phil Buttafuaco, executive director of special events for Kraft Sports & Entertainment, did not initially respond to an email seeking comment.
Officials with the Naval Academy Athletic Association had high praise for Kraft Sports & Entertainment for its execution of the 2023 Army-Navy game that was held at Gillette Stadium. The 124th meeting between the two archrivals drew a sellout crowd of 65,878 and all elements of the contest went off flawlessly.
A significant impediment that had prevented Boston and New England region from hosting the Army-Navy game was solved in smooth fashion with Kraft Sports & Entertainment succeeded in pulling off transporting and housing the entire Corps of Cadets and Brigade of Midshipmen.
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