Philadelphia determined to remain event’s primary home

Academies working on contracts for next cycle

Football coaches want their players to be confident but not cocky.

That mentality would best describe Larry Needle’s state of mind when it comes to bidding on the Army-Navy game.

Needle, the longtime executive director of the Philadelphia Sports Congress, has been largely responsible for making sure his city remains the primary site for the rivalry.

“Obviously, we’re proud to be the longtime home of the game. We would hope and expect to remain that way. We believe we deliver things that no other city can as a host for Army-Navy,” said Needle, who has been with the Philadelphia Sports TV: Radio:

Line:

“It’s a great comfort to all of us when we work with Philadelphia.”

Congress since 1991. “We think we have a special relationship with this game. It’s something we’re incredibly proud of, and we’re certainly going to make sure we do everything we can to make sure it stays right here where it belongs.”

Lincoln Financial Field will host the 116th Army-Navy game Saturday. It will mark the 86th year that Philadelphia has hosted the meeting; Franklin Field, Philadelphia Municipal Stadium (later renamed John F. Kennedy Stadium) and Veterans Stadium served as previous venues.

Chet Gladchuk has been Navy’s athletic director for 15 years; this marks the 11th time he has worked with the Philadelphia Sports Congress on the Army-Navy game. Gladchuk was effusive in praising Philadelphia for its handling of the rivalry.

“It’s the home of Army-Navy. Philadelphia is a well-oiled machine that sets the bar. They’re the benchmark that every city that aspires to conduct an Army-Navy event is measured,” Gladchuk said.

Dozens of cities have bid for Army-Navy during Gladchuk’s tenure, but Baltimore, Landover and East Rutherford, N.J., are the only ones to pry the game away from Philadelphia since Gladchuk arrived at the academy in 2001.

“Some other cities will come into it feeling a lot of pressure because they know there’s a lot that goes into delivering. They might have some question marks in their mind,” Gladchuk said. “These guys have confidence personified. They know exactly what it takes. They exude detail, execution and logistics. It’s a great comfort to all of us when we work with Philadelphia.”

Gladchuk and Army athletic director Eugene “Boo” Corrigan are about to begin the arduous process of formulating the next Army-Navy game contract. There are two years left on the current cycle, with Baltimore hosting in 2016 and Philadelphia in 2017.

Speaking at the Army-Navy news conference at Lincoln Financial Field on Dec. 2, Corrigan and Gladchuk said the request for proposals for the next cycle will be issued in early spring. Both said a five-year contract will be a starting point, but that period easily could be expanded.

“It’s always open-ended. We’ll start initially with a five-year period as a target, but depending on the reaction from various cities, we could increase that to six or seven or even eight years,” Gladchuk said.

That is what happened in June 2009, when the academies jointly announced that eight years of Army-Navy games had been awarded. Philadelphia was selected as host for five of those games, with Baltimore receiving two (2014, 2016) and Landover one (2011).

“It’s all a matter of the cities stepping up and the facility stepping up. We look at this in a very practical and exacting way. We eliminate all emotion from the equation,” Gladchuk said.

The Ravens have spearheaded Baltimore’s bids, with president Dick Cass the point man. M&T Bank Stadium will host Army-Navy for the fourth time next year and figures to bid again for the contract that begins in 2018.

“Baltimore has done a great job. Dick Cass and his team are very capable. The Ravens have hosted Ohio State-Navy and Notre Dame-Navy in addition to ArmyNavy,” Gladchuk said. “From a Navy standpoint, we feel very comfortable with the Baltimore Ravens because we’ve developed such a great relationship with them.”

By far the biggest reason Philadelphia has hosted the majority of Army-Navy games is that it is almost equidistant between the two academies. Army supporters felt the current contract, with the three combined games in Baltimore and Landover, was lopsided in favor of Navy. Annapolis is less than an hour away from both M&T Bank Stadium and FedEx Field.

Needle said the Philadelphia Sports Congress is greedy when it comes to the Army-Navy game. From1932-1988, Philadelphia hosted the service academy showdown all but four years. Three of those instances came during World War II, when the game was played in Annapolis (1942) and West Point, N.Y., (1943) and at Baltimore’s Municipal Stadium (1944).

“We want five out of five or eight out of eight. We want this event every year,” Needle said. “We understand the academies feel they need to share the game with other markets around the country on occasion. We respect that, but we’re going to do everything we can to make any decision to go elsewhere a difficult one.”

Corrigan and Gladchuk said Philadelphia sets the standard by which other cities are measured.

“We don’t want to pat ourselves on the back. At the end of the day, it’s the two academies that we need to satisfy. They are among our most important partners and customers to this city,” Needle said.

Eastern-seaboard cities have to date hosted 114 of the 116 Army-Navy games; Soldier Field in Chicago (1926) and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., (1983) are the exceptions. Many other cities around the country have bid on Army-Navy and come up short, primarily because of the cost of transporting the entire student bodies of the two academies.

“All sorts of cities are capable of hosting the game, whether it be Chicago or San Diego or Seattle or San Antonio. There is no question in my mind about that,” Gladchuk said. “The biggest issue is transporting the Brigade of Midshipmen and Corps of Cadets. That’s always been the deal-breaker in the past. Maybe one of these days another city will find a way to make it work.”

Corrigan said the primary reason for issuing the request for proposal this spring is to let potential bidders attend the Army-Navy game next year.

“We need to allow time for interested cities to respond and to conduct site visits,” he said. “Whichever cities choose to bid need to have a familiarity with the game. If we do go to a new city, you want them to see firsthand what it’s all about. The good news is that there is a lot of excitement surrounding the event.”

Army coach Jeff Monken and Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo agreed with Gladchuk that Philadelphia sets a high bar for competitors.

“Philadelphia really takes ownership of this game. I think the entire city of Philadelphia really feels that this is their game, and that’s really special,” Monken said. “You can tell the Army-Navy game really means something to Philadelphia, and that is important.”

Navy has won 13 straight against Army, and the superstitious Niumatalolo said he has gotten the exact same room at the Sheraton Center City hotel whenever the game has been played in Philadelphia.

“I think the city of Philadelphia, the Eagles, everyone involved does a phenomenal job. Everything is always first-class. We have nothing but great things to say about every aspect of the Philadelphia experience,” Niumatalolo said.

Chet Gladchuk, Navy athletic director