By:
Conor Martin
Four-time Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, have told the NFL they want to be considered for a fixture in Ireland next year.
Dublin has hosted the Aer Lingus College Football Classic for several years now, and as a result, alongside American football’s growing popularity in Ireland, the first-ever NFL game to be held in Ireland takes place at Dublin’s Croke Park at the end of the month when the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota Vikings lock horns.
Over 660,000 queued for tickets online when the tickets first went on sale earlier in the summer. As a result, many supporters were left frustrated after queuing for hours online amid technical issues that caused them to miss out.
Kansas City Chiefs tap into Irish market
As a result of the demand for tickets, other teams are now looking to Dublin, with the Chiefs having even gone as far as to release an Irish-themed mascot called KC O’Wolf as they look to grow their Irish fanbase.
https://twitter.com/Chiefs/status/1965070985469776078
Lara Krug, chief marketing officer and executive vice-president for the Chiefs, spoke to Irish state broadcaster RTÉ and said: “Who gets to play internationally is really the league’s decision as to the schedule every year, but we always have our hand raised to participate. We hope to be chosen to play in Ireland next season.”
“I don’t think we were surprised at all by the response from Irish fans to the first NFL game to be played in Dublin this year.
“Irish fans are passionate, and although Ireland is a smaller country in both size and population, you can see that there is real excitement for the NFL there.”
However, it’ll come down to whoever the NFL decides deserves the Dublin game and Krug went on to say: “The timelines are all NFL-dependent, as they control the schedule and who is selected to play in international games”
“However, we have talked openly about our aggressive approach to showing up globally, and we work hard to make sure the NFL knows that we want to be featured in international games, including potentially playing in Ireland in the near future.”
Minister for Sport wants Dublin NFL games to be a regular occurrence
The excitement around America’s national sport coming to the capital city has generated a lot of excitement, with the Minister for Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, wanting to bring more games to Dublin.
The Irish Government has committed to nearly €10 million in funding for the event, and it’s reported that around 30,000 international visitors will attend the game at GAA HQ, bringing a €64 million boost in economic activity and significant tax returns to the exchequer. It expects the NFL to spend between €14m and €18m on staging the game here, while overall the game is rumoured to generate €250m for the country’s economy.
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