The prospect has emerged of staging a competitive American football match at Croke Park. Emphasising that the idea is still at the “concept” stage, stadium director Peter McKenna said that a proposal had yet to go to the NFL.
Pittsburgh Steelers, who take on the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl and who are owned by the family of US Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney, might be one of the teams involved. The NFL has staged regulation matches overseas in recent years, with Wembley in London the venue for the past four seasons. “We have discussed the potential of hosting a seasonal game in Ireland and at Croke Park in particular,” McKenna told The Irish Times . We’ve spoken to Ambassador Rooney, who has also given generously of his time. We still have to pitch our case to the NFL and even then it would be a difficult task. We would be competing with Wembley, Frankfurt, Mexico and Canada, but we would be selling the idea of a country, a city and Croke Park as the stadium.”
The Irish Echo newspaper in New York, which reported that the match could take place as early as next autumn, contacted the Department of Sport, who said: “There would be a great welcome for visiting fans travelling with the teams to Ireland as well as huge interest locally and a knock-on boost for Ireland from a tourism perspective.”
The idea originated in Croke Park, as the stadium faces into the future without the lucrative prospect of rugby and soccer internationals now that the new stadium in Lansdowne Road has been completed. McKenna is cautious. “There was speculation that the game could take place this autumn, but that’s ambitious as things stand. It’s a concept at the moment and there’s work to be done. It would establish Ireland as a destination for global international sports events. We’ve already had the Tall Ships, the Ryder Cup, the Volvo Ocean Race and the Tour de France. Staging an NFL game would be another feather in our cap.”
Already a college match between Notre Dame and the Navy is planned for Dublin’s Aviva Stadium in 2012.. Irish Times 28 January 2011
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