The '21 Army-Navy game will be at MetLife Stadium to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of 9/11, and Giants President & CEO John Mara said hosting the matchup that year was "especially important to us," according to Brian Heyman of NEWSDAY. Mara said the Giants "always wanted to have this game, but particularly" in '21. It took the service academies, the Giants, Jets, MetLife Stadium, the Meadowlands Regional Chamber and the state of New Jersey to "team up after bidding for the game brought proposals from several venues." Host Committee co-Chair Roger Staubach also contacted New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie about three months ago to "push for the 2021 deal to get done." Navy AD Chet Gladchuk said, "It was a factor in our thinking to find a way to make it work here in the shadow of Ground Zero" (NEWSDAY, 8/23).
ANCHORS AWAY: Gladchuk said that Baltimore and Boston both submitted "attractive bids" for this cycle and "would certainly be in the running for the future." Gladchuk added that a big reason why he and Army AD Boo Corrigan decided to award "just five Army-Navy games during this contractual cycle was due in part to the competing bids from other cities." Gladchuk: “It just seemed appropriate this time around to stick with the five. Anything beyond that starts another cycle." In Annapolis, Bill Wagner notes one "stumbling block for many prospective cities surrounds the requirement of transporting and housing the entire Brigade of Midshipmen and Corps of Cadets." Gladchuk: “Logistics is an issue when you are talking about a city that is nine hours away by bus from one of the service academies. The Gillette Stadium folks were not as prepared as they needed to be on that front. This gives them time to put together a more manageable plan.” Gladchuk added that the Red Sox and Yankees also "submitted very serious bids" (Annapolis CAPITAL GAZETTE, 8/23). Maryland Sports Exec Dir Terry Hasseltine said that Gladchuk and Corrigan were "complimentary of the job Baltimore has done hosting Army-Navy in the past and sensed the city would be back in the running for the next contractual cycle" that will begin with the '23 game (Annapolis CAPITAL GAZETTE, 8/23).
