Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium

Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, in Annapolis, Maryland, USA, is an outdoor athletic facility located just off the campus of the United States Naval Academy. It serves as the home ground for the USNA Midshipmen football and men's lacrosse teams, as well as the Chesapeake Bayhawks MLL team. The stadium also hosted several games during the soccer tournament of the 1984 Summer Olympics. The stadium stands as a dedication to the men and women who have served, will serve, and are currently serving in both the US Navy and US Marine Corps. As a constant reminder to this, the stadium contains thousands of bench-back and wall plaques, as well as a list of numerous battles involving the Naval and Marine corps forces that surround the seating bowl.

The stadium cost $3 million to build. The first game was played on September 26, 1959, when Navy defeated William & Mary in football, 29-2. The stadium's attendance record was set at 37,970 on October 18, 2008, when the Pittsburgh Panthers defeated Navy, 42-21.

The Original design of the stadium was a split-stand stadium with the locker rooms behind the Northwest end zone and a grass hill connecting the 2 stands behind the Southeast end zone, creating a mock horseshoe. The hill was used as discounted general seating during big games, but did not have any permanent seating. The seats in the stadium were white wood-plank chairs, which was a testament to the history of the stadium and the USNA. In 2004, the stadium was expanded with a newly renovated locker room facility, 140 club seats, and an associated club lounge on top of the grass

hill on the Southeast end. The wood plank seats were replaced with standard hard plastic seats. Most of the seats are navy blue, but both upper decks of the stadium contain gold seats spelling out the words, "GO NAVY," reflecting the color scheme and spirit of the US Naval Academy and

US Naval Corps. In addition, the press box was expanded, private suites were added, and restroom and concession facilities were updated. The only aspect of the stadium that remains the same throughout the renovation was the bench seating provided for the USNA students who march into the stadium within their respective battalions before each home game.

Stadium Capacity:

34,000

Playing Surface:

1959 - 2004: Natural Grass

2005 - Present: FieldTurf