THE 2020 NAVY-NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL GAME WILL BE PLAYED IN ANNAPOLIS
The Naval Academy has announced the 94th Navy-Notre Dame football game has been moved from Dublin, Ireland to Annapolis. The change in venue was made because of concerns regarding the Coronavirus pandemic. The game will ideally be played on Labor Day weekend which is a week later than the original August 29th date. It will be televised on one of the ESPN family of networks.
M&T Bank Stadium was a possible site for the game but the restriction on fans attending the game made a large stadium unnecessary. A decision on the number of fans allowed will be made later in the summer. It will be far less than capacity though. Navy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk said “We are obviously disappointed not to be traveling to Ireland in August, but the priority must be ensuring the health and safety of all involved,” He is hopeful the game will take place but the decision will be made by health officials and the NCAA.
This is the first time the game will be played in Annapolis. Navy usually sells it’s “home” games to NFL stadiums. There are strong ties between the schools. During World War II Notre Dame fell on hard times due to a lack of students. Navy created an Indoctrination School on the campus. This brought 12,000 officers and $487,711 to pay for infrastructure needs and administrative costs. As a thank you for the help Notre Dame has kept Navy on their football schedule ever since. The 93 straight games make it the longest continuous intersectional rivalry.
Officials from both schools are working closely with Ireland officials to get the game back to Dublin in coming years. Information on refunds for tickets will be coming soon.
