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Annual Cortaca Jug football game returning to Yankee Stadium in 2026

Image credit: SUNY Cortland website

CORTLAND, N.Y. — SUNY Cortland makes the short trip to Ithaca College for this Saturday’s annual football battle with the Cortaca Jug on the line at Butterfield Stadium.

And both schools know where they’ll play the game in 2026 as well.

As was the case in 2022, the Ithaca Bombers and the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons will take the field at Yankee Stadium for their 67th annual clash on Nov. 14, 2026, per Wednesday’s announcement.

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It will mark the third time the two Division III schools will face each other at a professional sports venue in the greater New York City area.

The Cortaca Jug already claims the two largest crowds in Division III football history, setting an attendance record in 2019 with 45,161 fans at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey and 40,232 at Yankee Stadium in 2022.

“Cortland and Ithaca both help set the standard in Division III athletics, and our Cortaca Jug rivalry demonstrates that shared excellence,” Mike Urtz, director of athletics at SUNY Cortland, said in the announcement. “It’s been called ‘the biggest little game in the nation’ for a reason, and it’s fitting to be played in one of the most iconic sports venues in the entire world.”

In 1991, Sports Illustrated referred to the matchup as “the biggest little game in the nation.”

Tickets for the 2026 Yankee Stadium game go on sale for the general public Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, at 10 a.m., exclusively through Ticketmaster. Prices range from $27.50 to $89.

“We couldn’t be more excited to host the Cortaca Jug matchup for a second time at Yankee Stadium,” Mark Holtzman, VP of non-baseball sports events for the Yankees, said. “The 2022 game was a perfect college football afternoon filled with tremendous warmth and energy from the students, alumni and fans of both schools.”

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