Secretaries Cup
Annual American college football game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Secretaries' Cup is an annual college football game in the northeast United States between the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.[3] Both academies compete in NCAA Division III athletics.[4]
77 years ago
Coast Guard, 21–14[1]: 34
Merchant Marine, 39–38
.jpg) 2016 game action | |
| Sport | Football |
|---|---|
| Teams | |
| First meeting | October 15, 1949 77 years ago Coast Guard, 21–14[1]: 34 |
| Latest meeting | November 15, 2025 Merchant Marine, 39–38 |
| Next meeting | 2026 |
| Stadiums | Brooks Stadium (Kings Point) and Cadet Memorial Field (Coast Guard) Fenway Park (2025 only) |
| Trophy | Secretaries' Cup |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 54 |
| All-time series | Merchant Marine leads, 38–16[1]: 34 [2] |
| Trophy series | Merchant Marine leads, 31–14 |
| Largest victory | Merchant Marine, 42–0 (1992)[1]: 34 |
| Longest win streak | Merchant Marine, 7 (1965–1978) |
| Current win streak | Merchant Marine, 1 |
The Secretaries Cup is an intense rivalry game for both schools.[5] Though less well known than the Army–Navy Game, the Secretaries Cup is often described as a small-college version of that matchup.[6][7]
The two campuses are at opposite ends of Long Island Sound. The game alternates between the Coast Guard's Cadet Memorial Field in New London, Connecticut, and the Merchant Marine's Captain Tomb Field in Kings Point, New York just east of New York City. However, on November 15, 2025 the game was played for the first time at Fenway Park in Boston.
The game had been played on the last Saturday of the Division III football regular season (generally mid-November) from 1991 through 2005. When the Coast Guard Academy joined the New England Football Conference in 2006, the rivalry became a non-conference game and was moved to September. In 2017, the game moved back to November when the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) began sponsoring football with both teams as conference members.
History
The first meeting between the schools was in 1949.[8] Played at King's Point in front of 4,000 spectators, the Bears won 21–14 after scoring the game-winning touchdown with one minute remaining.[9]
The rivalry was designated as the "Secretary's Cup" in 1981, when both academies were in the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation.[10] The name of the contest was pluralized when the United States Coast Guard moved to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.[11]
The games have been broadcast on ESPN's streaming networks since 2017. That year's meeting was played at 12 noon on Veterans Day, November 11.[12]
While the Secretaries Cup is typically played at either school's campus, it was moved to Fenway Park in Boston for the 2025 edition.[13]
Results
Through 2025, the Merchant Marine Academy has an overall lead in the series 38–16 (.704). Since the Secretaries Cup was established in 1981, the Merchant Marine Academy leads 31–14 (.689). There have been no ties in the series.
The 2020 meeting, won 24–14 by Merchant Marine, was notable as the only Division III football game played in calendar 2020. The NCAA canceled the 2020 D-III football season due to the COVID-19 pandemic; it planned to move the division's championship tournament to spring 2021 before canceling it entirely. Nonetheless, the two academies chose to play their rivalry game on its normal schedule. Both schools had also chosen not to play football in spring 2021, making this their only game of the 2020–21 school year.[4]
| Coast Guard victories | Merchant Marine victories | Tie games |
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- Note: there were no games for the following years; 1950–1964, 1967–1973 and 1980