Navy-Notre Dame football coming to Jacksonville

One of the most coveted neutral site college football games is coming to the First Coast.

On November 5, 2016, Navy and Notre Dame will square off at EverBank Field. Organizers expect the roughly 72,000 tickets which will be available to go quickly, and that the people who fill the seats will infuse $10-12 million right in to the economy.

“We’ll bring the audience, we’ll bring the enthusiasm, we’ll bring the energy, we’ll bring the sizzle, we’ll bring the juice- it should be a lot of fun,” says Naval Academy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk.

While the Notre Dame football crowd is known to travel well, it’s a Navy home game in a Navy town, and that’s expected to be apparent.

“Notre Dame players are bigger, they’re stronger, they’re faster, but the one thing you can’t measure in a football player is heart, and I guarantee you Navy’s got the bigger heart,” says Retired Admiral Bob Natter, who is the head of the Naval Academy Alumni Association.

The game dates back to 1927, and that has created a long history and rivalry between the schools that adds an extra element and level of excitement.

“You don’t have to be a Naval Academy graduate to enjoy the history, the tradition of this game,” says Naval Station Mayport’s Commanding Officer Captain Wes McCall.

Further, Jacksonville Sports Council President and CEO Rick Catlett says they’re trying to go past just the game to create an entire week of events.  He tells WOKV he plans to ask the City to move their “Week of Valor”- honoring past and present military through several themed events- to the week around the game. In addition, he’s working with Mayport to look at moving local ships and helicopters to the sports complex to create more theming and public interest.  Catlett also says the Sports Council is looking at the possibility of a military convention, of sorts, uniting past and present generations that have served locally or on local assets.

And that’s just one part of a very busy time of year.

"Jaguars head over to London, then Georgia-Florida people show up we play a game there, the next weekend Navy-Notre Dame, then the Jacksonville Fair rolls in, and then of course the [Taxslayer] Bowl game at the end of the year,” says Catlett.

All of the terms of the deal to bring the game to Jacksonville aren’t being released at this time, but Catlett confirms to WOKV he’s asked the City for similar terms as they award to the TaxSlayer Bowl- $95,000 rent to use the stadium and split concessions and parking. That won’t be the end of the anticipated local contribution, however.

“There will be an investment in this event- there will have to be. And it will be included in my next budget cycle,” says Jacksonville’s new Mayor Lenny Curry.

Curry says he will request $325,000 from the City Council to support this game, but that will be the maximum and they will explore every way to find efficiencies and cut back on that. Whatever is invested, Catlett says it’s a drop in the pond.

“Direct money, tax dollar coming in should more than compensate for anything the City has to put in to make this thing happen,” he says.

Catlett says, if the City pulls this off, it can be a big boost to not just potentially bringing this game back in the future, but in recruiting more events. He adds he’s hoping for an announcement from the Florida State Seminoles soon about playing a game in Jacksonville.

The Navy-Notre Dame game will also be televised nationally. Curry says that helps give the City a return, not just on the day of the game, but moving forward. He says as the City continues to explore different economic development opportunities, exposing Jacksonville, its military-friendly reputation, and it’s capability to handle an event like this, could only help moving forward.