What is college football? A guide from Spain

In the United States, American football did not start as a professional sport but as a college one. The Naval Academy program, for instance, played its first game on 11 December 1879, [1] and the first Army-Navy Game was played on 29 November 1890 at West Point. [2] Decades before the NFL existed, universities already had rivalries, anthems and stadiums.

Who runs what

The NCAA groups the universities and its top football level is Division I FBS, divided into conferences. Navy competes in the American Conference, known until July 2025 as the American Athletic Conference. [6] The players are students; at Navy, they are also midshipmen who will graduate as officers.

What makes it different

A Navy home game includes the Brigade of Midshipmen marching onto the field, a military flyover after the anthem and, at the end, the team standing before the Brigade while the alma mater plays. [5] Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, built for the 1959 season, holds 34,000 people. [4] [5] For comparison: Spain's LNFA is played on municipal fields and its 2027 final is scheduled for 22 May. [7]