Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium

Navy – Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium near the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It is the home field of the Navy Midshipmen football team, the men's lacrosse team, and the Chesapeake Bayhawks lacrosse team.

The stadium opened on September 26, 1959, when Navy defeated William & Mary in football, 29–2. The current seating capacity is 34,000. The attendance record for the stadium is 37,970, when Navy lost to the Pitt Panthers in football, 42-21, on October 18, 2008. Prior to 1959, Navy played its home games at Thompson Stadium, which seated only 12,000. In the summer of 1984 The Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis hosted soccer games as part of the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Memorial
The stadium serves as a memorial to the Navy and Marine Corps; it is dedicated to those who have served (and will serve) as upholders of the traditions and renown of the Navy and Marine Corps of the United States. The thousands of memorial bench-back and wall plaques are a constant reminder, as well as the list of numerous battles involving the Naval and Marine Corps forces since the early 1900s.

Renovation
In 2004 the stadium underwent a major renovation by 360 Architecture. Among the improvements were an expanded press box, 140 club seats and associated club lounge, private suites, new stadium seating (northwest end zone), ADA enhancements, updated restrooms, concessions and stadium operation facilities, new banquet facilities, and renovated locker room facilities.

Playing surface
For its first 46 years, the stadium's playing field was natural grass. Prior to the 2005 football season, the grass field was replaced with FieldTurf, a next-generation infilled synthetic turf. The field runs northwest to southeast.

Jack Stephens Field
The field at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is named "Jack Stephens Field", for Jackson T. Stephens (Class of 1947), whose gift aided (1) the renovation of the stadium, (2) the Class of 1947 Legacy project to benefit the Academy's Museum, and (3) other Academy projects.

Army–Navy Game
The stadium has never hosted the Army–Navy Game; the last game played in Annapolis was in 1942 at Thompson Stadium. The rivalry game is normally played at a neutral site between the campuses on the East Coast in early December, most often in Philadelphia (with occasional stop-offs in Baltimore and East Rutherford, New Jersey).

Notre Dame–Navy Game
A similar situation exists with the Notre Dame – Navy series. The Irish never have played in Annapolis since the series began in 1927, with all of Navy's home games being played in Baltimore (1927-1958, 1986, 1988, 2002, 2006 and 2008), Philadelphia (1960-1974 and 1993), Cleveland (1976 and 1978), East Rutherford (1980-1984, 1990, 1992, 2004 and 2010), Orlando (2000) and Dublin, Ireland (1996 and 2012). However, since 1953 every ND home game in the series has been played in South Bend, and the Midshipmen also visited Notre Dame Stadium in 1930 (the dedication game) and 1937. Notre Dame played one "home" game versus Navy at Chicago's Soldier Field in 1928, and played several "home" games in Cleveland between 1932 and 1952.