College Football TV Ratings: Army-Navy Game averages 7.84 million viewers

Once again in its standalone window, America’s Game came down to the wire last week. Ultimately, Navy got a second straight victory over Army, and it became CBS’ most-watched college football game of the season.

An average of 7.84 million people watched as Navy came away with the victory at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. While it’s a 17% decrease from last year’s 9.4 million viewers – the best since at least 1990 – it’s still the second-best viewership for the game since 2018, according to Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp.

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Last year’s Army-Navy game topped the previous high mark of 8.45 million viewers in 1992. In addition, it tops CBS’ slate of games this year, beating out the 5.6 million viewers who watched Indiana at Oregon in Week 7, according to data compiled by On3.

This year’s Army-Navy game also marked the last for CBS analyst Gary Danielson in the booth. He has worked 17 matchups between the two programs and will get ready for retirement following the Sun Bowl later this month. Charles Davis is set to join Brad Nessler in CBS’ lead booth starting next season.

With the victory, Navy extended its advantage in the all-time series against Army, which dates back to 1890. The Midshipmen have an all-time 64-55-7 record against the Black Knights.

How it happened: Navy defeats Army

Navy struck first in the first quarter of last week’s game, taking a 7-0 lead on a Blake Horvath touchdown. But Army responded with 13 points in the second quarter, including a rushing touchdown from Cale Hellums, to take the lead into halftime.

The two teams traded field goals in the third quarter as Army took a 16-10 lead into the final 15 minutes. That’s when Navy completed the comeback as Eli Heidenreich caught the 8-yard touchdown pass from Horvath, putting the Midshipmen back on top, 17-16. That held as the final, giving Navy a second straight win over Army in the historic game.

Horvath led the charge for Navy, rushing for 107 yards and a touchdown on the ground while adding 82 passing yards to go with the touchdown pass to Heidenrich. On the Army side, Hellums had 100 rush yards and a touchdown to go with 82 passing yards.

Both Army and Navy are now getting ready for their respective bowl games. The Midshipmen will head to the Liberty Bowl on Jan. 2, 2026 against Cincinnati while the Black Knights will square off against UConn in the Fenway Bowl on Dec. 27.