Government Shutdown Forces Relocation of Armed Forces Classic

The United States federal government shutdown has forced the relocation of a premier women’s college basketball event from an Air Force base in Germany to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

The 2025 Peraton Armed Forces Classic had originally been scheduled to be held at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on November 4, with a matchup between the No. 1 UConn Huskies and No. 20 Louisville Cardinals women’s basketball teams. It will be the 10th edition of the Armed Forces Classic, but the first to feature two women’s basketball teams. Ramstein hosted previous versions of the event in 2017 and 2021

The Armed Forces Classic is owned and operated by ESPN Events. The event was created in 2012 as part of ESPN’s annual “America’s Heroes: Salute to Veterans” initiative, which dedicates a week of multiplatform programming for Veterans Day.

“We’ve made the decision to move the 2025 Peraton Armed Forces Classic to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland,” said Clint Overby, vice president of ESPN Events. “For more than a decade, this event has celebrated the lives and contributions of our military, and we’re appreciative of the Naval Academy for helping provide a first-class venue for this first-ever women’s college basketball matchup that will showcase perennial powers Louisville and UConn.”