The College Football Classic In Ireland: A Growing Tradition
By Carter Quinn
Last Updated on February 13, 2026
Back in 1988, Boston College played Army in the old Lansdowne Road Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Since demolished, the iconic Lansdowne Road was a fitting venue for the first officially sanctioned NCAA game in Europe. 42,000+ patrons packed into the stadium to watch Boston win 38-24.
Almost forty years later, and college football has become a semi-permanent fixture in Ireland. Teams have played each summer now for the last three years, and they are penciled in for 2026 and 2027 in what has become known as the Aer Lingus Classic. The games are now played in the more modern Aviva Stadium, home of the Republic of Ireland national soccer team.
Football’s popularity is growing in Ireland
Ireland’s relationship with football is interesting. The country had its first NFL game in 2025, and the event was deemed a huge success. The fans are clued in with the NFL. They have access to dedicated television coverage across the season, and bettors will certainly keep an eye on the Super Bowl odds throughout the campaign. That’s all very normal, especially as the NFL has its eye on Europe.
Yet, with college football, there is something unique in its relationship with the Irish people. Of course, you can point to historical ties like Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish, but there is also a familiarity with the structures of college football vis-à-vis the professional leagues.
Irish sport remains dominated by the Gaelic Athletic Association, which oversees the island’s leagues and tournaments for (Gaelic) football and hurling. The system is not unlike the ecosystem of American football, with the minor (under 18) and club system similar to college football and the top-level inter-county system similar to the NFL, though, rather famously, the top-level of Gaelic football remains amateur, despite being a huge business.
Sellouts at the Aer Lingus Classic
Nevertheless, the Irish fans have engaged with the college game, with three consecutive sellouts at the Aviva Stadium. There is a carnival atmosphere in Dublin in the days leading up to the game, with plenty of US fans traversing the Atlantic to make the game. They mingle with the local fans, as well as quite a few American expats who now call Ireland home.
For Ireland, the annual game has a significant economic impact, with some estimates putting the “value” at 130 million euros ($140 million approx.). The 2025 game, which saw Kansas State take on Iowa State, was a broadcast win, too. ESPN reported a peak of 4.7 million viewers.
Dates are penned in for the next two summers
Next up, it’s the North Carolina Tar Heels versus TCU in August 2026. The Pittsburgh Panthers and Wisconsin Badgers are penciled in for August 2027. Notre Dame has been the most frequent visitor over the decades, playing the Classic on three occasions. Fittingly for a team with the Fighting Irish moniker, Notre Dame is 3-0 on Irish soil.
There’s a long way to go before you can really consider Ireland to be gridiron country. As mentioned, everything is secondary to the GAA-sanctioned sports, though soccer and rugby have strong fandoms. But the tradition of sending two college teams to the Emerald Isle each summer has been well received by Irish fans, and it seems to be a beneficial experience for the athletes as well. Make it an annual event? By 2027, it will mark six consecutive games, so the growing fanbase will hope that the yearly jaunt to Ireland will become set in stone.
