It is the NFL maiden voyage in Ireland.
The National Football League is going to Dublin, Ireland for its first invasion of Europe in the 2025 season. The Pittsburgh Steelers will be the host team in the game against the Minnesota Vikings. This is the first time the NFL has ventured into Ireland. But it is not the first time American football will be played in Dublin. The first American football game that was played in Dublin was in 1988 and featured the United States Military Academy or Army against Boston College. More than a dozen college football games have been played in Dublin with the last game just a month ago featuring Iowa State and Kansas State on August 23rd.
The Dublin game is the second of seven NFL matches that are scheduled outside of the United States. There are three games scheduled to be played in London, England in October and the final two international games will be played in Berlin, Germany and in Madrid, Spain in November. Commissioner Roger Goodell and his 31 owners and the Green Bay Packers Board of Directors would like to see 16 games played on foreign soil. The NFL has not announced its 2026 international game plan yet. The NFL does plan to stage a game in Melbourne, Australia next year and there will be London contests. The NFL may return to Mexico City in 2027. All of the games are regular season contests but Goodell has dangled the possibility of a Super Bowl in London. Goodell in February said. “I do think there’s potential that someday we will have an international franchise. If we do, it would not surprise me at all if a Super Bowl follows and is played there.” There is no way political leaders would allow the NFL to play the biggest event in American sports on foreign soil. Congress created the Super Bowl in 1966.
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