The University of Illinois along with local organisers, Irish American Events, have announced that this year’s Aer Lingus College Football Classic game between Illinois and Nebraska, scheduled for Saturday 28th August, will not be played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and will instead take place at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, USA.
This is the second year that the hosting of the game has been lost to Covid-19 restrictions and is a major blow to the tourism and hospitality sectors.
Padraic O’Kane, the promoter here though is nothing if not a relentless optimist and plans are continuing to bring the five-game series to Ireland, just kicking off now in 2022.
All four Universities that were scheduled to play the opening fixture of the College Football Season here in 2020 and 2021 (Notre Dame, Navy, Illinois and Nebraska) remain committed to fulfilling the fixture at the earliest possible opportunity.
The announcement comes after months of consultation between the Irish government, medical authorities and key representatives from both Illinois and Nebraska. Ultimately it was a public health call with the likelihood of so many players and fans travelling from the US in the summer months an unlikely scenario.
“Whilst today’s announcement is another difficult blow for the Irish Hospitality and Tourism Industry,” said O’Kane.
“As organisers, we are fully engaged with our stakeholders on both sides of the Atlantic and remain hopeful, that with the right support, we will be in a position to re-launch the Aer Lingus College Football five-game Series in the coming months.”
“We are at an advanced stage of negotiations with high-profile Universities for the 2022 and 2023 fixtures. However, the five-game series business model post-Covid-19 has additional costs and risks which we are currently working through with our public and private stakeholders and partners.”
“The economic impact of hosting the Aer Lingus College Football Series in Ireland in the coming years will play a crucial role in Ireland’s post-Covid recovery. These games are ‘Much More than a game’ and also bring academic, leisure and business events that run parallel with the game itself.”
“The games attract on average 25,000 American visitors to the country, staying on average seven nights and the Illinois / Nebraska game alone was set to be worth an estimated €70 million to the Irish Economy.”
“Irish hoteliers will feel that considerable blow today as 105,000 bed nights booked for the game have been released across the country for the second year in a row. We are determined to start the series at the Aviva Stadium in 2022.”
“It is desperately disappointing that it is necessary to cancel the 2021 Aer Lingus College Football Classic but public health must take precedent,” added Neil Naughton, Chairman of Aer Lingus College Football Classic.
“These games offer huge publicity potential, practical economic benefits, and a genuine expression of the close ties between Ireland and the United States. The organisers are working to recommence the series from 2022 and I look forward to giving our visitors the welcome Ireland is so famous for.”
Ticketholders will be contacted by their purchase provider in the coming days with details of refunds.
Sport for Business Partners
