The Ravens would like to play host to the annual Army-Navy showdown -- or any other Navy football games -- at their new stadium should the event move from Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium in the wake of a railing collapse on Saturday.
The Ravens have the right under their lease with the Maryland Stadium Authority to book non-NFL events and split the profits with the state agency.
Just before the opening of the new downtown stadium this year the team gave a tour of the facility to Navy's athletic director, Jack Lengyl, and other school officials, said Ravens executive director James Bailey. The two sides have talked since then.
The team would be especially interested in the Army game, he said.
"It's hard to predict where it will go, but we both have an interest," Bailey said. "It's something we are going to continue to explore."
Lengyl said the academy is interested in playing at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in Landover and Ravens stadium and will continue to explore opportunities. Navy proposed playing the West Virginia game at Ravens stadium this season, but couldn't because of a conflicting baseball game at Oriole Park, he said.
The Army game is a possibility, but it's too soon to talk about it, Lengyl said. The academies have a contract with Philadelphia that takes them through 2002, but there is an option that would allow for the match to be held somewhere else one more time (which would add another year to the deal with Philadelphia, pushing it to 2003).
The first year that could be arranged would be 2000.
Army spokesman Col. William Harkey said it is too soon to speculate on a change in venue for the game, but if that happens, the academies usually seek a site between the two colleges.
A railing gave way under the pressure of Army fans during a 34-30 victory by Army on Saturday. Nine people were injured when they fell, one suffering a broken bone in his neck. But all are expected to recover, according to the Associated Press.
The University of Maryland and Morgan State were hosts to games at Ravens stadium this fall. The annual Poly-City and Loyola-Calvert Hall high school games were also played at Ravens stadium.
Navy played Notre Dame at Jack Kent Cooke last month.
Pub Date: 12/08/98