The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) announced on Friday that it has extended its deal to continue to be the main sponsor of the famed Army-Navy game.
The announcement comes the day before the 125th game between the branches, which will be played in Landover, Maryland, just outside the nation’s capital, as USAA continues to be the first and only presenting sponsor since 2009.
The new deal will stretch through the 2030 game.
“We are so excited. We’ve been working with the academies for a long time. It’s an opportunity to bring the game to prominence, to showcase what is right and best about America and college football,” USAA CEO Wayne Peacock said in an interview with FOX Business. “It’s really special, it’s been a natural marriage for us, and just the right time to extend the partnership and continue to show our commitment to the academies as they continue to build their brands and work on recruiting across the country.”
The deal comes at the perfect time, as this may be the best bout between the two academies in quite some time. It is commonplace to see low-scoring games, but with Army nationally ranked and Navy at 8-3, there might be some points on the board.
Peacock even joked that fans on Saturday may forget they are watching Army and Navy go at it.
“Both of them are bringing high-powered offense into the game. It should be not only the normal clash, but one with more offensive excitement this year. I think it’ll be a spectacular showcase on Saturday,” Peacock said, although he did stop short of giving an official prediction (he said he’s 0-1 and leaving it at that).
Additionally, he praised the academies for emphasizing teamwork.
“There’s only a one-way portal into Army and Navy,” said Peacock. “But what they find are these student-athletes that want to play, but also want to do something more than just play, and that to me is what makes it so special. But their ability to put competitive teams on the field in this environment also speaks to something that we don’t talk about a lot. And that’s the power of teamwork and culture.”
Navy leads the all-time series, 62-55-7 – winning 16 of 17 from 1999 to 2015, including 14 straight, helped matters.
However, Army has made a comeback, winning six of the last eight.
USAA was founded in 1922 by a group of military officers and contributes to national and local nonprofits in support of military families and communities where employees live and work.