Army-Navy moved back a week, beginning in 2009

NEW YORK -- The annual Army-Navy football game will be played a week later, starting in 2009. The rivalry will take place on the second Saturday in December.

The academies and CBS announced Thursday they have extended their TV rights agreement through 2018.

The date change will give the matchup more visibility because it will no longer conflict with conference championship games. It will be the last regular-season college football game each year.

"There is no more fitting way to conclude the college football regular season," said Mike Aresco, executive vice president for programming at CBS Sports.

The game also will be streamed live and free of charge on CBSSports.com, reaching troops around the world.

"We could not be more pleased," Army athletic director Kevin Anderson said in a statement. "We feel very fortunate that this great American tradition will continue to be delivered to servicemen around the globe."

The 109th meeting in the storied rivalry is Dec. 6 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Navy leads the series 52-49-7.