The Aer Lingus College Football Classic landed in Dublin last week and anyone who was involved will already be counting down the days until its return next year.

It has been a long time in the making for the start of what will be a minimum five-year series of games, with Covid rudely interrupting proceedings on the original start date of 2020 but all that faded into the background as the players and fans of the Northwestern Wildcats and the Nebraska Cornhuskers came to play.

For those fortunate enough to be among the gathering for the Ireland US CEO Club in the Mansion House on Friday this was, as the tagline goes ‘more than a game’.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and leading drivers of the initiative Martin Naughton and Pat Ryan warmed up the well-heeled audience before Gwynne Shotwell, President of Space X, gave a keynote speech on how that company is planning to change not only our world but in many ways the trajectory of the human race.

College Football is the synthesis of hyperbole. The noise, the colour, the action, the pure razzamatazz that was served up 24 hours later was like something we could only imagine, even at lively rugby or soccer internationals in the same ground.

Ready to Party

The final attendance hit just over 42,000 with probably between one-third and half of those having travelled from the United States and ready to party.

Dublin City had not felt as buzzy for the past two years and with parties held in Merrion Square and Temple Bar throughout Friday and in the run-up to the game on Saturday, they were freely spending.

It is estimated that the value of the one game to the economy is around €63 million and that over the initial five years of the series that number will be north of €400 million.

The value will not just stay in Dublin either. We had conversations with different groups that were heading on to Derry, to Kerry, to Dromoland and Ashford Castles and to all points of the country.

They will have a little extra to spend as they travel as well after a glitch in the Aviva Stadium connectivity meant that from shortly into the game until just after halftime, all the terminals to accept payment for food and drink went down.

The stadium is contactless with no cash option so the decision was taken to keep serving but not charge.

Free Pizzas and Beer

Free pizzas and beer is the stuff of a College Football fans dreams and while the review for stadium management and suppliers will doubtless be uncomfortable it certainly added to the joyous atmosphere around the ground.

Beer snakes of recyclable glasses were being put together all around the ground and gave the Nebraska fans some comfort and laughter as their team, heavily favoured in advance, failed to convert an early lead and ended up losing by three points.

For the watching TV audience coast to coast across the United States, it was a good close game and doubtless the atmosphere and the media spend around it by Tourism Ireland and Aer Lingus will have encouraged many to say ‘yes please’ to a trip in future years.

In 2023 that ticket will be red hot. The return of Notre Dame and Navy is as blue chip as it gets. With travel back on the agenda the planning is already well underway for Corporate.ie and Anthony Travel who have been the driving force behind the event.

The first tickets for the local audience have already gone on sale at the high end of ‘The Fighting Irish (as Notre Dame are known) Club Package’ costing north of €500.

More regular tickets will not be on sale until after a determination is made on how many will travel in from the US but when they are released, fight to get one.

It did perhaps help that we had not been able to enjoy a big stadium experience in August due to the earlier conclusion to the All Ireland Championship, but it was special in so many ways and very few will have left Ballsbridge without having felt a real sense of sporting occasion.

Next year’s game is on Saturday, August 26th. It is in our diary already.