2018 Navy-Notre Dame game to be played in San Diego
It appears that talks from earlier this year between Navy and the San Diego Bowl Game Association have yielded results.
Navy announced Wednesday that its 2018 game against Notre Dame will be played in San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 27.
Mark Neville, the Association’s executive director, told the Associated Press back in April that there were “preliminary talks” with Navy to move one of its games with Notre Dame to San Diego. Now those talks have come to fruition.
"We are excited about the opportunity to play a regular-season game against Notre Dame in San Diego, which is a city filled with Navy and Marine Corps service men and women,” Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk said in a release. “We are so very pleased to bring the Navy family together again in this wonderful environment for what is always a highly competitive match up against two institutions with unparalleled national respect and tradition. We are all looking forward to 2018.”
The San Diego Bowl Game Association is the group that puts on the Holiday and Poinsettia Bowls. The Midshipmen have played in four Poinsettia Bowls – more than any other program – so the two sides were certainly familiar with one another.
“The partnership the Naval Academy has had with the bowl administration in San Diego has been extraordinary for well over a decade,” Gladchuk said. “This special matchup with Notre Dame will mirror in many ways the highly successful event format that has brought great success to the economy, city, and community over the years.”
Neville said in April that Navy was receptive to the idea, especially with the Navy’s heavy presence in the San Diego area. He is pleased the event came together.
“We are so excited to be bringing this tradition-rich rivalry to San Diego in 2018,” Neville said in a statement. “Through the Holiday Bowl and Poinsettia Bowl games, we’ve enjoyed a tremendous relationship with the Naval Academy. When this opportunity presented itself we couldn’t jump fast enough. We’re in the business of generating tourism, exposure and an economic impact for the San Diego region by producing championship caliber, first-class events. Navy versus Notre Dame is a perfect fit for us and San Diego.”
Navy and Notre Dame have played on a yearly basis since 1927 and the Midshipmen’s home games in the series have recently been played in various locales including Landover, Md., Dublin, Ireland, East Rutherford, N.J., and Baltimore.
Notre Dame leads the all-time series 72-12-1 and has won the past four matchups.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
