Army-Navy game attracts largest audience ever after Trump attends

the Army and Navy game Saturday witnessed an unprecedented number of viewers.

the The midshipmen managed to shake off the discomfort in Landover, Md., 31-13, to increase their all-time series lead, 63-55-7, and end a two-game losing streak to the Black Knights.

For the first time since 2020, Donald Trump attended the game, this time as president-elect.

President Biden has not attended the competitive bout since his election, but he competed in 2011 and 2012.

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Trump I took in the game With Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, Elon Musk, Pete Hegseth, Danielle Penny and others in a luxury suite. And it would be fair to say that many tuned in to catch a glimpse of the soon-to-be 47th president.

In fact, with Trump in attendance, the game had its highest viewership ever.

The game attracted an average of 9.4 million viewers, the most since at least 1990. Its previous high was 8.45 million viewers in 1992, and this year’s number represents a 31% increase over last year’s audience of 7.2 million viewers.

It is undoubtedly the most-watched Army-Navy game since CBS acquired the broadcast rights in 1996. In fact, it was the most-watched game on CBS this year, behind only the Big Ten game.

It now ranks as the 11th most-watched college football game this season, ranking ahead of three conference championship games, including the Big 12, and is the most-watched game that does not include the Big Ten or SEC.

Viewership for the game has increased since the game was moved to the week following conference championship weekend in 2009. It is now the only college game for the day. This year, both teams were ranked for the first time since 1960. This year’s game was also the highest-scoring Army-Navy showdown since 2011.

Navy took a 14-0 lead, and although Army cut its deficit to four, the Midshipmen never looked back, scoring a 52-yard touchdown and then finding the end zone again shortly after on a fake punt. With the win, the Navy claimed the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, having also beaten the Air Force earlier this year.

Army had won six of the previous eight meetings after Navy had a hot streak by winning 16 of 17 meetings. The Midshipmen are 9-3 on the season while Army fell to 11-2.

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Both teams are now focusing on their ball games. Navy will face Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl, and Army will face Louisiana Tech in the Independence Bowl.