Some 14,000 US sports fans are expected to travel to Ireland this week before the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Saturday, well down on last year’s high-profile game.
The now annual event, which generated a reported €132 million within the Irish economy last year, is an important milestone on the tourism calendar. As well as Aer Lingus, it is sponsored by Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, along with Dublin City Council.
With other sponsors including multinationals like Kerry Group, Glen Dimplex and Amgen, the game is seen as a forum for the development of transatlantic business ties.
The 14,000 visitors expected to fly in for the game from overseas is down from around 23,000 last year. The 2025 edition pitted genuine rivals Iowa State and Kansas State against each other in a fixture dubbed “Farmageddon” by the fans.
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Meanwhile, the 2024 instalment between Florida State and Georgia Tech pulled in 26,000 visitors from the US. Close to 40,000 travelled from the US to see Notre Dame take on Navy in 2023, according to the event’s organisers.
A series of events will take place this week in the run-up to the game, including a chief executive lunch in the Round Room of the Mansion House in Dublin on Friday. That event, at which Smurfit Westrock chief executive Tony Smurfit will deliver an address, will be attended by Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke.
This year’s matchup pits the University of North Carolina (UNC) Tar Heels against the Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Frogs in the first game of the 2026/27 college football season.
Beginning their second season under former New England Patriots head coach and eight-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick, the Tar Heels will be closely watched by fans and pundits in the US.
Last year’s game was broadcast on ESPN, where it attracted a peak audience of 4.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched game of the week.
With an average of four million viewers, it was the second most-watched sports telecast of the weekend behind the main portion of the Tour Championship final round in golf on NBC.
This year’s game will also be broadcast on ESPN in the US and by TG4 in Ireland.
“With TCU facing a Bill Belichick-led UNC and limited tickets still available, this is a Saturday people will be talking about for weeks to come,” said Padraic O’Kane, director and co-founder of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. “We want fans in the stands to be part of the show for what will be a truly unforgettable Dublin game day.”
Fire and Sole restaurateur O’Kane and his business partner, Notre Dame alumnus John Anthony, run the event through Irish American Events, a joint venture with US hospitality and events company On Location.
