Why is Notre Dame-Army at Yankee Stadium? Irish, Black Knights face off in Shamrock Series

On Saturday, Notre Dame and Army will meet for the latest installment of a college football series that dates all the way back to 1913.

The 52nd all-time matchup between the Fighting Irish and Black Knights will come with the kinds of stakes that a Notre Dame-Army game hasn’t had in generations.

At 9-1, Notre Dame is No. 6 in the most recent US LBM Coaches Poll and with wins against Army and USC, coach Marcus Freeman’s team would clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff. Army, meanwhile, is one of just three undefeated FBS teams remaining heading into Week 13 of the 2024 season. The Knights, the No. 17 team in the Coaches Poll, are still in contention not only for their first undefeated season since 1958, but a playoff berth, depending on how things break elsewhere in the sport the next couple of weeks.

For the millions across the country tuning into the game, something about the matchup may seem off. The Irish and Knights won’t be facing off under the shadow of Touchdown Jesus at Notre Dame Stadium, nor will they be playing along the banks of the Hudson River at Michie Stadium in West Point.

Rather, one of the most weighty games of the 2024 season to this point will be happening on a baseball field.

As Notre Dame and Army prepare for their meeting Saturday at Yankee Stadium, here’s a look at why the game is taking place at a non-traditional venue:

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Why are Notre Dame and Army playing at Yankee Stadium?

Saturday’s game between the Irish and Black Knights is at Yankee Stadium as part of Notre Dame’s Shamrock Series, a tradition that started in 2009 and has Notre Dame play in neutral-site games in various major metropolitan areas across the country.

Saturday’s matchup will be the third Shamrock Series game to be held at Yankee Stadium.

This one has some added meaning beyond Notre Dame and Army’s impressive records.

This year marks the 100-year anniversary of Notre Dame’s 13-7 victory against Army at the Polo Grounds in New York City on Oct. 18, 1924. The game is perhaps most famous for New York Herald-Tribune sports writer Grantland Rice’s story about the Irish’s win, which included passage about Notre Dame’s backfield of Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley and Elmer Layden:

"Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again,” Rice wrote, giving the storied quartet its iconic moniker. “In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below.”

The significance of the game and the timing of it isn’t lost on those participating in it.

“It's an honor,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said Monday at his weekly news conference. “I remember when (former athletic director) Jack Swarbrick told me that this was going to be our Shamrock Series game for this year, the first thought was, 'Navy and Army in the same year? C’mon Jack.' Then he told me why. And Jack was just such an innovative mind, he never wanted to have a Shamrock Series game just to have it. He said what better opportunity than to have a Shamrock Series game in New York City versus Army 100 years later after the Four Horsemen were named. And I think it's a great opportunity.”

What is the Shamrock Series?

Beginning in 2009 with a 40-14 win against Washington State at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Notre Dame began playing an annual neutral-site game, which became known as the Shamrock Series.

Though the university is located in northern Indiana, Notre Dame has long been one of college football’s true national brands, with fans scattered across the country, even if they have no affiliation with the school beyond liking its football team. By bringing Irish games to major cities in different regions of the nation, Notre Dame leadership believed it could cater to their fans who live far away from South Bend, while helping increase its football program’s already high visibility.

Like Saturday’s game against Army, there’s often a reason for the game being in a particular location or against a specific opponent. The Irish have played previous Shamrock Series games against Boston College in Fenway Park and historic rival Miami at Soldier Field in Chicago, the home of perhaps the largest contingent of Notre Dame fans in the country given its proximity to South Bend.

“In all cases, we know where we’re going to go,” then-Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in 2012. “In some cases, we’re working with opponents on the elements of what game will be. There’s work to be done. These games work best, clearly, when they tell a story. Army in Yankee Stadium was a classic example of that. Renewing the Miami rivalry is great example of that. Or having a regional opponent as we did (with Maryland) in Washington, D.C. That’s when this will work best. If it’s just another opponent in another venue, it’s a tougher deal.”

The Irish typically wear an alternate jersey of some kind for the Shamrock Series. Maybe the most famous (or infamous) example came in a 36-3 victory against Syracuse at Yankee Stadium in 2018, when Notre Dame wore pinstripe pants modeled after the New York Yankees’ home uniforms.

This year, the Irish will wear navy blue pants and navy blue jerseys with stylized gold numbers modeled after Gothic type.

Shamrock Series history

The Shamrock Series hasn’t been an annual affair, with a handful of breaks since its inception in 2009. There were no games in 2019 and 2020, the latter of which was due to schedule modifications necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Notre Dame had been scheduled to face Wisconsin at Lambeau Field that season, a matchup that will now occur in 2026.

The Irish also didn’t play a Shamrock Series game in 2023 and instead traveled to Ireland to play Navy in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin.

Notre Dame has never lost a Shamrock Series game, carrying an 11-0 record into Saturday’s meeting with Army.

Here’s a look at past Shamrock Series games:

• Oct. 31, 2009: Notre Dame 40, Washington State 14 (Alamodome, San Antonio)

• Nov. 20, 2010: Notre Dame 27, Army 3 (Yankee Stadium, Bronx, N.Y. )

• Nov. 12, 2011: Notre Dame 45, Maryland 21 (Northwest Stadium, Landover, Md.)

• Oct. 6, 2012: Notre Dame 41, Miami 3 (Solider Field, Chicago)

• Oct. 5, 2013: Notre Dame 37, Arizona State 34 (AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas)

• Sept. 13, 2014: Notre Dame 30, Purdue 14 (Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis)

• Nov. 21, 2015: Notre Dame 19, Boston College 16 (Fenway Park, Boston)

• Nov. 12, 2016: Notre Dame 44, Army 6 (Alamodome, San Antonio)

• Nov. 17, 2018: Notre Dame 36, Syracuse 3 (Yankee Stadium, Bronx, N.Y.)

• Sept. 25, 2021: Notre Dame 41, Wisconsin 13 (Solider Field, Chicago)

• Oct. 8, 2022: Notre Dame 28, BYU 20 (Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Notre Dame, Army are playing at Yankee Stadium in Shamrock Series