One of the greatest rivalries in college football may in the future be coming to a couple of the most iconic stadiums... in baseball.
The Boston Globe is reporting that Fenway Sports Management, the group that runs Fenway Park, has submitted a formal bid to host the 2018 Army-Navy game. That game would be the 119th in a rivalry that was first played way back in 1890.
Additionally, the Baltimore Sun reports that Boston’s American League East rival, the New York Yankees, has submitted a formal bid for Yankee Stadium to be a venue as well. Neither New Yankee Stadium nor Fenway have served as the site for the game; Old Yankee Stadium was, though, the host for two of the games (1930, 1931).
The Sun goes on to write that "[t]he New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority has submitted a bid to host the game at The Meadowlands, while Baltimore (Baltimore Ravens, M&T Bank Stadium), Foxborough (New England Patriots, Gillette Stadium) and the District of Columbia (Washington Redskins) are also in the mix.” No specific years for any of those bids were detailed.
Last year’s matchup was played in Baltimore and saw Army snap its 14-game losing streak in the series. The vast majority of the games, 86 to be specific, have been played in Philadelphia. The next edition of the rivalry will once again take place at Lincoln Field in Philly.
Boston would become the 11th different city to play host to the game if the bid is a winning one, joining Philly, New York City (11), Baltimore (6), East Rutherford (4), West Point (3), Annapolis (3), Princeton (1), Chicago (1), Pasadena (1) and Landover (1).
Massachusetts, meanwhile, would join Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois and California as states that have played host.
The home of the Boston Red Sox has become a destination of sorts for Northeast football. Last month it was announced that the 2017 UConn-Boston college game will be moved to the old ballpark. That will serve as one three college football games played at Fenway the upcoming season, the other two being UMass-Maine and Brown-Dartmouth.
Notre Dame played “host” to Boston College in 2015 at Fenway as part of their Shamrock Series.