The countdown to the 2025 Aer Lingus College Football Classic is firmly ticking and the management team from Kansas State are in Dublin this week to familiarise themselves with the stadium and all of the logistics around the trip.
Head Coach Chris Kleinman will be attending the Leinster Cardiff URC game in the stadium on Saturday but is aware from talking to colleagues that this will not be a real measure of the noise that the stadium can deliver.
“Well, it seems the stadium that can get loud,” he told us, “and both fan bases are going to pack this place.”
“It’s something that you prepare for no matter what. We all have to play with the noise. The older kids have played in that environment. Some of these newer guys have not. But we will be ready with some things worked out.”
Kleinman is not rooted in the Irish tradition that some previous coaches in the series have been and I asked him what were his first thoughts when the idea was put to him of travelling to Dublin.
“Yeah. If I recall, Rob, it was our athletic director get a call from John (Anthony) and him bringing me down saying, Hey, what do you think about this?”
“And I’m like, boy, that really excites me, but can you give me a little bit of time to just kind of get my thoughts together rather than just saying, yeah, we’re going to do it because, you know, football players are such a creature of habit. And we have such routines on everything and you’re going to throw a lot of routines off by doing this as well as shortening shortening summer vacation, shortening summer workouts and stuff.”
“But then I remember leaving Gene and and one of the first guys that I was able to reach out to was Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern,and then Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame.”
“And they said, you gotta do it. One of the greatest experiences we ever had. And you’re like, okay, think of it, not just from the football standpoint, but also from the experiences that these kids are going to have.”
“So I was like, boy, what an opportunity to take a football team and showcase what American football is all about. And it didn’t take me long then to say, okay, I think this could be a heck of an idea.”
“I know our kids are going to be excited about. Our fan base is going to be excited. We’re going to bring so many fans here, and they’re thrilled about the opportunity to come and see some of Ireland too.”
The Notre Dame Navy Game was worth €180 million to Ireland and the Aer Lingus College Football Classic is a huge event for the country, even more so this year as it will take place only weeks before the first ever regular season NFL game on this island when the Pittsburgh Steelers come to town.
We are tingling already at the thought of two massive events
Further Reading for Sport for Business members: Aer Lingus College Football Classic Generated €180 Million of Economic Value in 2023
SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
We have always worn our heart on our sleeves as fans of American Football and this game is one between two teams likely to be competing at the highest end of the sport. We cannot wait for this and more.
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The Irish man who has been named as the Pittsburgh Steelers International Fan of the Year.
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