The 42

TALKS TO BRING an NFL American football game to Croke Park later this year are at an advanced stage, with hopes that an announcement could be made as early as this week.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, who have longstanding Irish links, are expected to play a 2025 regular season home game overseas, and it has been widely reported that they could host the Green Bay Packers in Dublin in September.

Cabinet sources indicated on Wednesday that the NFL and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media are continuing to explore the business case for an NFL game, but that no final agreement has been signed.

It is hoped that an announcement can be timed to coincide with Super Bowl LIX, which takes place in New Orleans this Sunday.

If confirmed, the historic fixture will be the Steelers’ first international game in 12 years, as they played the Minnesota Vikings at Wembley in London in September 2013.

The Pennsylvania-based franchise hold the NFL’s international marketing rights in Ireland.

Croke Park has previously hosted college football games with Penn State playing University of Central Florida in August 2014, while in recent years college games have taken place in Dublin at the Aviva Stadium.

The move would see the NFL expand its range of international venues to include Ireland for the 2025 season. 

There are already three games set to take place in London next season, with the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns playing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while the Jacksonville Jaguars will host a game at Wembley Stadium.

The Indianapolis Colts will be the host team for the first game in Berlin, at the Olympic Stadium in the city, while the Miami Dolphins will play in the first-ever regular season game in Spain, which will take place at Real Madrid’s home, the Bernabéu Stadium.

– With reporting by Christina Finn

Written by Fintan O’Toole and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.