Photos by Richard Smith, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 4.29
Northwest Stadium 1600 Ring Road Landover, MD 20785
Year Opened: 1997 Capacity: 85,000
America's Game
The Army-Navy Game is one of the most iconic sporting events in the United States. The rivalry football game between the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy has been going on since 1890, although has only been played annually since 1899. The game was not held in 1917 or 1918, due to World War I, and in 1929, when the two academies disagreed over player eligibility rules.
Navy leads the series, which has had seven ties. The 2022 game was the first overtime game of the long series.
Philadelphia is usually considered the main home to the game, although starting in 2008 a bidding process has now made the game likely to rotate to various venues. Philadelphia still holds the record for most games hosted, followed by New York City and Baltimore. The game has been held as far west as Chicago (1926) and at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA (1983).
Northwest Stadium (formerly FedExField) is located in suburban Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. It replaced the Washington NFL team’s longtime home RFK Stadium in 1997. The late Jack Kent Cooke, former owner of the Washington Redskins, spent the early 1990s looking for a new stadium. Finally, a location was found in the town of Landover. The former owner died before truly enjoying his team playing at their new home. The team's location was also even known by the United States Postal Service as Raljon, Maryland to honor Cooke’s sons, Ralph and Jon, although it was always technically in the Landover area.
Northwest Stadium has seen an amazing number of expansions and reductions in seating capacity in its short lifespan. Entire seating sections have been physically removed from the stadium to reduce capacity. Some seats have been removed to make standing-room-only “party” sections, while other seats have been covered by advertisements and tarps.
There is talk every year about the Washington Commanders moving either back to the District of Columbia or to the Commonwealth of Virginia. At this point, there is no specific plan in place or motion.
Food & Beverage 5
There are many decent concession stands around the stadium offering the usual stadium options. The prices are not cheap, but they are pretty much in line with most NFL venues. If you worry about high food costs, your best bet is to eat before game time. There have been changes to some options to make them cheaper.
There is an increasing number of self-checkout, and grab-and-go food stations added around the concourse.
The team has been adding many interesting food options and keeping choices fresh and interesting. Chicken Guy, a Guy Fieri chicken finger stand is very tasty.
The team has done a good job of enhancing the food offerings at both the Club Level and the main concourse. The upper concourse options seem a bit sparer, although that is common with large stadiums.
Atmosphere 5
The game atmosphere is amazing. There are activities both before and during the game to keep all of the fans engaged.
There will be many options for Army-Navy game merchandise, but the usual Commanders' merchandise will be unavailable.
The atmosphere is top-notch even with the limitations of this facility. Once inside the stadium, you may be less impressed with some aspects of the physical structure. Some areas are just poorly designed. The stadium is not aging well. The addition of a fan zone on the main concourse, which includes areas where the fans can gather and still be in sight of the on-field action, is a welcome addition to the stadium. The Commanders have brightened up much of the stadium and kept it consistent in theme. This is an improvement over our past visits to this stadium.
The upper deck seems incredibly too high to enjoy the game. Some seating sections in the upper deck require your having to go both up AND down a set of stairs to find your seat. A former walkway has been filled in with three rows of seating. Doing so has created some navigational issues, in that fans may need to go up and then back down a small set of stairs just to move from one area to another. It is weird to see entire seating areas in the Club Level that are blocked off and covered up.
The upper deck also still has some audio issues. There are areas there where the sound is nearly inaudible. In addition, the lower deck still has some obstructed view seats. They do often go for quite low of a price but it is still incredible that a stadium built just one year before Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium has the severe design flaws that it does.
Many other parts of the seating bowl are just a bit weird here at Northwest Stadium. It opened with 80,000 seats. A few years later, the Redskins added many temporary and permanent seating areas to bring the total seating to over 91,000. Now the stadium is getting smaller, with many seats changed over to those standing-room-only areas and/or tarp-covered areas to bring the official capacity down.
Neighborhood 2
Suburban Landover is not the most exciting neighborhood. Northwest Stadium sits in an area surrounded by parking lots. That kind of setting can be good for tailgating but often means the area is lacking a bit. It would be nice if there could be food, drink, and entertainment options located in the area, such as at Philadelphia’s Xfinity Live complex. I would love to see something similar, even if they are temporary, game-only, locations. Currently, fans who are not tailgate types have very few pregame options.
The closest thing really to the stadium is some newer housing developments. Luckily Washington D.C. is close by. If you are arriving by Metro, pregame activities are best spent there. The Foggy Bottom neighborhood is a good option in D.C. as there are still plenty of restaurants to choose from.
Georgetown is another great option The choices there will astound you, but Martin’s Tavern will always be a good choice.
Did I mention you are right near Washington, D.C.? The number of other attractions, museums, restaurants, and other sights is astounding. Spend some time pre or post-game seeing the many things around this great city.
Fans 5
This game means the world to the teams and fans in attendance. Everyone has a side. “Go Army! Beat Navy!” and “Go Navy! Beat Army!” are chanted and shouted almost non-stop before and during the game.
Even with the emotions of the game, there is a respectful tone. This is not a crowd that will fight over their emotions. These are respectful fans who take pride in their teams, as well as their nation.
Access 3
Northwest Stadium’s location close to the Washington Beltway is not usually seen as a positive. This suburban location compounds the traffic nightmares in the area. The stadium is located far from public transportation and with limited parking alternatives, the stadium can be hard to get to. The opening of the Washington Metro’s Morgan Boulevard Station in 2004 gave attendees at least one public transportation option. It is slightly less than one mile away, and there are decent walkways between the station and the stadium. Sure, it could be closer, but at least it is an option. The Largo Town Center Station, also on the same Blue line as the Morgan Boulevard Station, is another walkable option but is far less convenient.
There is plenty of parking available around the stadium. The problem has been that it is pricey. There are a few non-approved lots to the north of the stadium around Brightseat Road, but that is an exception.
In the last few years, the stadium staff made major strides in improving the operations of their lots. Fans are required to enter their designated lots from specific access roads. The idea was to allow for a more efficient entry and exit from the stadium. It seems to have worked.
Return on Investment 5
The Army-Navy game may not be the cheapest around. It is a much-desired ticket for many fans, so expect to pay a decent amount of money. That, coupled with pretty expensive parking, means the game will not be cheap. But for the experience you will get, the price seems fair and reasonable.
Extras 5
It is the Army-Navy game, so that is probably extra-enough as it is. But there are other reasons to attend.
Stay outside the stadium to witness the walk of the Cadets and Midshipmen into the stadium. Then get inside to watch the formations on the field. It is well worth attending just for this.
The game will always have a good flyover pregame, whether it is Army helicopters or Navy jets that you prefer. The Navy and Army will also always have skydivers jumping into the opening ceremony.
Both the Navy and Army have ships and other large equipment around town displaying their awesome firepower.
Final Thoughts
The Army-Navy game is one of the most special events a sports fan can ever attend. The overall pageantry of the event and the pure sports aspect of the contest make it a must-see for any real sports fan. We have often been critical of Northwest Stadium, and rightfully so, but the team has made the stadium as nice as they really can.
Comentários