Full Sail Stories

On December 9, the Full Sail University Orlando Health Fortress hosted the EA SPORTS™ College Football 26 Live Championship Broadcast of the Army-Navy Game Tournament presented by USAA. After launching its partnership with EA Sports and hosting the Madden Championship Series in 2024 and 2025, this event was the first time Full Sail hosted an event featuring the popular college football game.

The event kicked off with a catered VIP reception and behind-the-scenes tour of the Fortress. The top four finalists from around the country then competed in a live, in-person esports championship as the Army Black Knights took on the Navy Midshipmen. The tournament was also streamed on the EA Sports College Football Twitch and YouTube channels.

The gaming competition was held just four days before the 126th matchup between Army and Navy on the football field, one of the oldest rivalries in American sports.

“Members of both branches hold a lot of pride in this game with the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy up for grabs,” said Aaron Hall, Director of Military Student Success and Air Force veteran. “For this [esports tournament], we wanted to give our military-connected students an opportunity to come out and cheer for their respective teams, but also to support each other. The students were extremely excited to be there and felt honored to be part of it.”

The championship match pitted Marta “TheRealTay614” Edwards (Navy) against Greg “Slim Ghost” Allen (Army). Edwards defeated Allen, 37-17, to claim the title for Navy. Both finalists received tickets to attend the Army-Navy football game in Baltimore on December 13.

The production crew for the event was made up of numerous Full Sail students and grads, including several veteran students. In addition, many grads contributed to creating the College Football 26 game for EA.

“The addition of this Army-Navy event this year and being able to work alongside EA to bring College Football 26 to life is a testament to the early success of our partnership,” said John Saboor, Full Sail's Executive Director and Head of Partnerships. “Success tends to breed success, and we’re seeing that in this relationship with EA and their continued advocacy for what we’re doing at Full Sail. We think the very best is yet to come.”

According to Aaron, this type of event is simply one of many ways he hopes to make Full Sail a go-to university for military-affiliated students.

“Our team’s main goal is to improve outcomes for our brothers and sisters in arms,” Aaron said. “Whether it’s holding an esports tournament like this or any other opportunities we can offer, we want to be the best educational institution for military and veteran student support in the country.”