Featured image credit: NFL
The National Football League (NFL) has continued its run of international game announcements by declaring today (Friday) that Croke Park will stage the first regular season fixture in Dublin, Ireland.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will be the designated, or ‘home’ team, for the latest new international destination added to the NFL’s 2025 season. The full matchup including opposition, date and kickoff time will be announced when the 2025 NFL schedule is revealed this spring.
The NFL has signed the deal for Croke Park, the largest stadium in Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), in partnership with the Government of Ireland and Dublin City Council.
Dublin has long been linked with a regular season game, talk that intensified in November after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell revealed that the league was looking to play up to eight regular season games outside of the United States in 2025, with Dublin and Berlin potential new destinations.
In December, the NFL confirmed it would play its first-ever regular season game in Berlin during the 2025 season, with the Olympiastadion set to stage the inaugural event under a multi-year contract, and now Dublin has secured its game.
The terms of Dublin’s contract were not disclosed, with the Steelers having been part of the only NFL game in Ireland to date, a preseason matchup in 1997 against the Chicago Bears at Croke Park as part of the American Bowl series.
Steelers’ president Art Rooney II and his family have a rich history and deep connection with Ireland, having family from Newry, County Down. The late Dan M. Rooney, Art Rooney’s father, served as U.S. ambassador to Ireland from 2009 to 2012 and was a co-founder of the Ireland Funds charity.
The Steelers are also one of three teams, along with the New York Jets and the Jacksonville Jaguars, that hold active interest in Ireland under the NFL’s Global Market Program (GMP), which awards teams marketing rights in international markets to grow fandom, commercial opportunities and brand awareness.
Art Rooney II said: “The opportunity for the Pittsburgh Steelers to play in Ireland is truly special, not only because of the Rooney family history there, but also to play in front of the growing number of Steelers fans in Ireland. We are thrilled to be part of this historic event to represent Pittsburgh in a game that brings the NFL to the great sports fans in Ireland.”
2025 plans shape up
The path to enhancing the International Games calendar was set in December 2023, when NFL team owners voted to permit an increase in league-operated inventory from a minimum of four up to a maximum of eight games a season, beginning in 2025.
For 2025, the NFL has so far confirmed two regular season games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, featuring the Jets and the Cleveland Browns as designated teams. The Jaguars will also return to London as Wembley Stadium last month locked down a one-year extension to its contract.
Along with the Berlin fixture, with the Indianapolis Colts as the designated team, the NFL will also head to Madrid, Spain for the first time, with the Miami Dolphins set to feature at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, home of Real Madrid.
The NFL on Wednesday announced plans for a first regular-season game in Australia. Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the game in 2026 as part of a multi-year agreement between the NFL and the Victoria Government. The Los Angeles Rams will serve as the designated home team for next year’s game.
The 2024 International Games was made up of three fixtures in London, two at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one at Wembley Stadium, along with a return to Munich’s Allianz Arena. The series was brought up to five in September as São Paulo’s Neo Química Arena hosted the league’s first-ever game in South America.
Brazil is expected to return in 2025, along with Mexico in 2026, once a major revamp of Estadio Azteca is completed for that year’s FIFA World Cup. The NFL held regular season games in Mexico City in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022.
“We are delighted to officially bring a regular season NFL game to Ireland as part of our 2025 International Games slate,” said executive vice-president of international, league events and club business at the NFL, Peter O’Reilly.
“Both the NFL and the Steelers franchise have deep roots and history in Ireland, and we’re looking forward to making our regular-season debut in Dublin, bringing our game to a large and passionate Irish fan base and underlining the NFL’s commitment to global growth.”
GAA president, Jarlath Burns, added: “This event will not only highlight our stadium’s world-class facilities but also reinforce the connections and love of sport shared between our communities.
“Croke Park is a proud symbol of Ireland’s rich sporting heritage, and hosting one of the world’s best sporting organisations is a momentous occasion for the entire country. It will be a special and unique event, celebrating the passion uniting two great sporting codes in the heart of Dublin.”
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