Today, we get to know the date of this autumn’s historic NFL game at Croke Park and who the Pittsburgh Steelers, as the home team, will be playing.

We will have all the details in our Tuesday Extra bulletin later this afternoon, after an announcement at Dublin Castle.

Trying to gaze into our crystal ball, several teams have emerged as potential contenders to face the Steelers in this historic matchup.

Within their own AFC North division, they will play the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. These are the biggest local rivalries, though, and international games have tended to avoid them.

The other six games will be against the Buffalo Bills, the Green Bay Packers, the Indianapolis Colts, the Miami Dolphins, the Seattle Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings.

The Dolphins will host their own international game in Madrid, and the Colts will do the same in Berlin, effectively ruling them out and narrowing the field to four.

Green Bay and Minnesota both played in London last season, the Packers losing and the Vikings winning, perhaps explaining why the mood music has switched in the past few months more towards the Vikings as being the favourites for a trip to Dublin.

The Packers were also named last month, alongside the Kansas City Chiefs, as being granted international marketing rights in Ireland and making them a more likely potential host here of a game in the coming few years.

The Bills have played in London twice, losing both, while the Seahawks won in London in 2018 and lost in Munich in 2022.

Our view is that the Vikings are the most likely, with the Seahawks as the number one alternative.

Still, all the horse-trading and logistics debates have been concluded, and our guesswork will come to an end this afternoon. Then, the excitement and build-up can begin in earnest.

 

Further Reading for Sport for Business members:

Packers and Chiefs Added to Irish NFL Marketing Rights Holders

 

SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE

It will be one of the most significant sporting events ever to be staged in Ireland and the countdown clock gets a big nudge forward this afternoon.

WHAT’S UP NEXT?

We will have all the details of the date and the opponents in today’s Extra Bulletin.

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