Does the Military Bowl Need Army and Navy?

The Military Bowl may have had one of the more intriguing non-Playoff matchups of Bowl Season with 8-4 Pitt facing 8-4 East Carolina. Both schools were in their respective conferences’ championship races until the last penultimate week of the season. However, both fanbases and local residents may not have gotten the memo.

The Military Bowl recorded its lowest attendance ever with 17,016 fans in attendance and its third sub-20,000-fan output in the game’s 16-year history. While one can attribute the poor number to an 11 AM local time kickoff and a repeat appearance by East Carolina, the latter problem could reveal a deeper issue.

Three seasons ago, Tulane appeared in the Military Bowl as the conference runner-up in the 2023 edition. That was the second year in a row that the American Conference sent its championship game loser to Annapolis for Bowl Season after sending UCF the year prior. Somewhere along the line, the Military Bowl became less desirable among the conference’s elite.

Last year, the American Conference champion, Army went to the Independence Bowl, seemingly honoring a contract established during their independent years, 10-2 Memphis went to the ESPN-owned Frisco Bowl, and 9-3 Navy went to the ESPN-owned Armed Forces Bowl. This left 7-5 East Carolina to play in the Military Bowl. This was just the third time the American sent a team with seven wins or fewer to the American in their ten years partnering with the bowl.

This year, ESPN-owned bowls again took the conference’s non-College Football Playoff teams, while a spot in the Liberty Bowl opened for another American team. 11-2 conference runner-up North Texas went to the New Mexico Bowl, 9-3 USF went to the Cure Bowl, 8-4 Memphis went to the Gasparilla Bowl, and 10-2 Navy went to the Liberty Bowl. This created an unattractive repeat appearance from 8-4 East Carolina. The bowl could not even land 6-6 Army, as the ESPN-owned Fenway Bowl landed the Black Knights.

While this could be overthinking, one cannot help but think the Military Bowl needs an appearance from Army or Navy to regain respectability. Once one of the crowning achievements of the American postseason, the bowl is nothing more than an afterthought now. ESPN seems to call the shots for the American’s postseason, squeezing out the independently-owned Military Bowl.

The attendance problem could be a one-off, but Army and Navy provide the easiest solutions. Charlotte makes sense regionally and has never appeared, but seem far away from a bowl. Temple has not appeared since 2019, but had weak attendance showings in 2016 (26,656) and 2019 (24,242).

This leaves Army and Navy as the best solutions for the Military Bowl. Navy is attractive for obvious reasons, given they host the bowl game. Both Navy appearances in Military Bowls at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium were sellouts. It also allows the Midshipmen to host a Power Four team, something they have only done twice since joining the American in 2015, both times in the Military Bowl. However, the Military Bowl could benefit from Army making its first appearance.

It is no secret that the DMV area is a hub of veterans and active duty military. However, the Black Knights have also proved themselves to be a somewhat lucrative attraction for Group of Five Bowls.

Last year, despite playing a 5-7 Louisiana Tech team, the Black Knights helped draw the largest crowd for the bowl since 2014, with 34,283 fans in attendance. This was over 1,000 more than when Louisiana Tech played national brand Miami in the 2019 edition of the bowl (33,129), and nearly 4,000 more fans than when Louisiana Tech played Coastal Carolina in this year’s edition (30,298).

This year, Army drew the second-highest attendance in the Fenway Bowl four-year history despite playing a UConn squad that appeared in the bowl last year, when 22,461 fans attended. 6,000 more fans attended this year’s game than the 2023 edition that featured hometown, Power Four school Boston College. The Military Bowl could see one of its strongest crowds for a non-Navy game ever with Army.

It may not be time to panic for the Military Bowl yet, but this year’s attendance should elicit some caution from the bowl’s organizers. However, the bowl may want to look to its name for solutions to this year’s attendance woes.