Up to 13,000 American tourists will descend on Dublin this weekend for the first game of Aer Lingus College Football series to take place since 2019 when Northwestern Wildcats take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers at the Aviva Stadium.
Following cancellations over the past two years, Saturday's match between the two heavyweights of college football, ie American football played by college students, is expected to be played before a crowd of around 33,000 people, with 20,000 domestic attendees.
The second game in the five-game series will see Notre Dame host Navy at the same venue next August. The principal stakeholders in the series are Aer Lingus, Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and Dublin City Council.
The series has been organised by Irish American Events, a joint venture between hospitality and event specialists Corporate.ie and On Location, formerly Anthony Travel. The partnership has delivered a public-private commercial environment to attract future fixtures to Ireland.
Corporate.ie helped to put on previous college football matches such as the Emerald Isle Classic in 2012, the Croke Park Classic in 2014 and the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in 2016.
In Association with
Irish American Events, established in 2015, went on to promote and operate the 2016 Aer Lingus College Football Classic between Boston College and Georgia Tech. The latest accounts for the company show current assets of €1.1m and net assets of €15,000.
Fáilte Ireland said the games are of critical importance to the Irish economy and provide a platform to attract future large-scale international sporting events to Ireland.
“Large scale events such as this are an important part of driving tourism demand because they provide international and domestic visitors with a compelling reason to choose Dublin as a destination," said Paul Keeley, director of regional development at Fáilte Ireland.
"As one of the key sponsors of the event, we’re looking forward to welcoming the thousands of American football fans, including 13,000 visitors from the US, to Dublin this weekend for the first game in the series. Many of the fans will also travel to other parts of Ireland boosting tourism revenue throughout the country.”
“The millions of fans watching the game in the US will also provide Ireland with a valuable opportunity to showcase its ability to host large-scale international sporting tournaments while also reaching out to viewers – and potential visitors – in one of our key markets.”
Photo: The Aviva Stadium hosting the Emerald Isle Classic between Notre Dame and Navy in 2012.
