Army-Navy game in Atlanta? Why it could (and should) happen.

The list of major sporting events that have come to Atlanta might be unrivaled. The Olympics, the Super Bowl, the World Series, the College Football Playoff championship game, All-Star games for the NBA, NHL and MLB.

The World Cup comes next summer.

But for this college football town, here’s an absolute plum that has never been here — the Army-Navy game.

Bound in history, pageantry and patriotism, the rivalry is unique in American sports and would be worth it for Atlanta to pursue. Take it from Hall of Fame coach Paul Johnson, who coached (and won) six Army-Navy games with the Midshipmen before moving on to Georgia Tech.

“If they can get it, it’s unbelievable,” Johnson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. “That should be a bucket list for everybody to try to get to that game.”

It is a spectacle. Both entire student bodies — Army’s Corps of Cadets and Navy’s Brigade of Midshipmen — attend the game and march onto the field before the game. After the game, both teams stand for the playing of the academies’ alma maters. It is a bitter and hard-fought rivalry, but one marked by respect. The teams will play for the 126th time Saturday in Baltimore.

“It’s unlike any other game,” Johnson said. “It’d be hard to describe. You can think about your biggest rival and times it by five.”

(Ever snarky, Johnson added “I can’t imagine losing that game” — the spoils of never having lost to Army.)

“For me, I say this game has a soul, and no other game can claim that,” Army athletic director Tom Theodorakis told the AJC.

Beyond that, both teams play winning football. In his past nine seasons, Army coach Jeff Monken has had five nine-win seasons. Navy is a combined 19-5 in the past two seasons. The game drew 9.4 million viewers last year, the most for the game since at least 1990.

The game has long been played in Philadelphia, located between the two service academies, and typically sells out Lincoln Financial Field. It’s a hard-hitting battle between young men committed to serving their country and seeking to test themselves physically and mentally.

“Yes, you can see it on TV and that’s great, but you feel the pride, you feel the passion and you feel Americana at its best,” said Theodorakis, who has served in the Army athletic department since 2022 and became AD earlier this year.

Who wouldn’t want this gem of a game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium?

I mean, besides an Air Force Academy graduate?

The encouraging news here is that the idea of staging the game in Atlanta isn’t just a pipe dream. Key parties have interest in exploring the possibility. While it almost always has been played in the Northeast, leaders at both institutions are interested in taking the game outside the region and have communicated with Atlanta Sports Council president Dan Corso.

“I think it’s healthy for Army and us to be open-minded to new possibilities,” Navy AD Michael Kelly told the AJC.

Theodorakis, the Army AD, told the AJC that he’s aware that each city and stadium bring negative and positives, “but our job and my job in working with Michael Kelly is to make sure that we’re putting this game on the biggest stage possible and that we’re continuing to elevate the experience for our Cadet athletes and Midshipmen.”

Theodorakis took it one step further in regard to a possible Atlanta bid.

“I will tell you, the state of Georgia is important to Army — the United States Military Academy,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of great Cadet athletes from there and a lot of Cadets in general from that state that are very supportive of this institution.”

A statement from Corso to the AJC indicates that the sports council has genuine interest.

“We are excited about the potential of hosting the historic Army–Navy Game in Atlanta,” the statement reads. “Our city has a proven track record of successfully delivering many of the world’s premier sporting events and we know that we could create an incredible experience for one of America’s most iconic sporting events.”

The statement went on to say that the council has not entered into formal discussions but looked forward to learning more once Army and Navy put out their request for proposal to start the bidding process. Landing the game would require a payout. In a 2024 report, Sportico estimated that it was around $10 million to each academy.

“It needs to make sense financially,” Theodorakis said.

Probably the biggest challenge for Atlanta and any other city outside the Northeast is the transportation of both academies’ student bodies — about 4,400 students at each institution — to the game, along with possible housing.

“That’s a big part of the tradition,” Kelly said.

Students have bused to games in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Baltimore, Washington and Boston, but that would seem asking a lot in this case.

Said Theodorakis, “We need to make sure they have a great experience, and they’re not just shipped out there.”