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More than 39k U.S. Fans to attend the 2023 Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. a game that is sold out.
“The demand for tickets for the 2023 Aer Lingus College Football Classic proves that Ireland is the home of college football outside of the United States,” said Padraic O’Kane, co-founder and director of the event.
“This year’s event in Dublin will see the largest movement of Americans into Europe in peace time, with the game set to provide a huge boost to the Irish economy and hospitality sector.”
The game between the Fighting Irish and Midshipmen will be the third meeting between the two historical college football teams in Ireland. The first was held on November 2, 1996. The legendary Lou Holtz was the Irish coach and 10,000 traveled over for the festivities.
The game itself was the brainchild of Irish businessman Michael Smurfit and Don Keough, president of Coca-Cola and chairman of the board of Notre Dame. He was the leading Irish American of his era.
Keough had created the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies in 1992 in tandem with Dublin-based businessman and philanthropist Martin Naughton, and the 1996 game was a huge opportunity to introduce the Notre Dame colossus to the Irish public. The Irish won 52-27.
The most recent Notre Dame - Navy game in Ireland was September 1, 2012, when the Irish defeated the Midshipmen 50-10 at the Aviva. Brian Kelly was the Irish coach.
The 2023 meeting will be the first Notre Dame home game played in Ireland, as the previous two meetings were Navy home game designations in the series.
