The new NFL season gets underway in the wee small hours of tonight, and for a cohort of Irish fans, that will be the start of a commitment that will run all the way to Super Bowl Sunday on St. Valentine’s Day next February.
The Kansas City Chiefs have partnered with Dublin City Council to raise visibility and engagement. The New York Jets are also increasingly involved with their international marketing rights in Ireland, as are the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Green Bay Packers.
But the Pittsburgh Steelers, who hosted the first regular-season game here in 2025, continue to lead the way.
They will return to Dublin next month with the 2026 edition of their Fáilte Steelers Watch Party, continuing the NFL franchise’s growing programme of fan and commercial activity in Ireland.
The event will take place at Kennedy’s Pub on Sunday, October 18th, when the Steelers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Aer Lingus, Heinz, Ticketmaster and UPMC presenting the Dublin gathering.
Kennedy’s became the first official Steelers bar in Ireland earlier this year through the franchise’s partnership with the Mahon Group and is now home to the newly established Steelers Station.
That relationship will extend throughout the NFL season, with every Steelers game falling into the 6pm and 9pm Irish time windows shown live at Kennedy’s, giving supporters a regular Dublin base to come together and follow the team.
The October watch party will begin at 4pm ahead of the 6pm kick-off and will feature live coverage across multiple screens, match analysis, hospitality, live music, giveaways, and a range of Steelers game-day traditions.
A former Steelers player will also attend as a special guest.
It will be the third official Steelers fan watch party staged in Ireland.
The game at Croke Park between the Steelers and the Vikings represented a major step forward in Pittsburgh’s long-term strategy for Ireland, a market where the franchise has placed particular emphasis on its historic connections, supporter development and commercial partnerships.
The Steelers have steadily expanded their presence through fan events, partnerships and community activity, with both the season-long screenings at Kennedy’s and the Fáilte Steelers Watch Party providing opportunities to maintain engagement well beyond individual major events.
The presenting partnership also brings together a strong mix of brands already connected to sport, travel and major-event experiences in Ireland, including Aer Lingus, Heinz, Ticketmaster and UPMC.
A limited number of tickets for the October 18th event are now on sale through Ticketmaster.
If you are a fan of the sport, join our established Sport for Business confidence pool before the big kick-off tonight for a lot of fun through the season, and cash prizes every week if you know your stuff better than the rest of us.
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Image Credit: Pittsburgh Steelers
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