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 . Starting in 2013 , it will become the new home of the Military Bowl , a college football bowl game . 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 restroom s , 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 . Rivalry games . 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 .