FILE - Kicker Mark Jackson of Ireland runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine, Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Indianapolis. Ireland has become part of the NFL’s international playbook as Irish interest in the sport increases. Dublin is under review to potentially join the league’s growing list of international cities hosting a regular-season game. FILE - Kicker Charlie Smyth of Ireland runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine, Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Indianapolis.
“We’ve seen in the last 12 to 24 months quite a surge of interest there,” Henry Hodgson, general manager of the NFL’s UK office, said of Irish social media activity, merchandise sales, ticket purchases to London games and Super Bowl ratings.in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Jacksonville Jaguars also have the same rights, and the New York Jets added Ireland this year.
The Steelers played the Chicago Bears in the 1997 preseason at Croke Park. The GAA-owned stadium has a capacity of 82,300.“There’s a feasibility study, as we would call it, in a number of different European cities and Dublin is one of those,” Hodgson said. “Looking at the stadiums, taking local meetings ... we’ll take away all of that information, digest it and determine what the next steps are.
Brazil is hosting its first NFL game this upcoming season, when the league hold three games in England and one game in Germany. Spain will be added to the list in 2025.“At the moment we’re really considering more the depth of fandom and the opportunity to grow the fanbase in the market rather than looking at the revenue,” Hodgson said., Dublin — obviously we’re heading into Madrid in 2025 — those are the ones we’re most focused on in Europe,” he said.