College Football Classic Will be Played in Ireland

The following news came from The Stadium Business; the original article can be found at this link.

The College Football Classic will return to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium in 2024, with Georgia Tech to take on Florida State University.

The game will take place on August 24, with over 20,000 people expected to travel to Dublin from America for the event. Research from Fáilte Ireland and Grant Thornton estimates that the game will be worth €69m (£61m/$73m) to the Irish economy.

The 2024 College Football Classic, which will be sponsored by Aer Lingus, will be the third consecutive American college football game held in Ireland since the game series was announced and the eighth Division I college football game to be played in the country.

The event will serve as the opening fixture for the 2024 college football season and will be an Atlantic Coast Conference game. Georgia Tech will return to Ireland for the second time since 2016, while Florida State will play its first game in the country.

The game is being promoted and organized by Irish American Events Ltd, a joint venture between Corporate.ie and On Location.

Padraic O’Kane, chief executive of Corporate.ie, said: “Next year’s fixture, which will see the welcome return of Georgia Tech and the first visit of Florida State, will be the third consecutive season-opening game of the US college football season cementing Dublin’s position as the European headquarters of college football.

“This fixture will attract 20,000-plus US visitors staying on average seven nights throughout Ireland, in addition to a four million-plus live US TV audience via ESPN showcasing Ireland at its very best on a global stage. A full program of leisure, business, academic and sporting events will take place throughout game-week 2024 as part of the ‘Much More than a Game’ steering committee enterprises.”

In August 2018, Aviva Stadium agreed a deal to stage five college American football games. Fixtures in 2020 and 2021 had to be relocated to the US due to COVID-19, but Aviva Stadium hosted a clash between Northwestern and Nebraska last year. Navy and Notre Dame will contest the 2023 game.