US college football clash to boost Irish economy

OVER 33,000 American football fans are due to arrive in Dublin at the end of the summer to attend a classic clash between two of their top teams at the Aviva Stadium.

The eagerly awaited encounter between bitter rivals Navy and Notre Dame will generate up to

?¬100 million to the Irish economy, it has been claimed.

The Naval Academy Athletic Association, which is hosting the Emerald Isle Classic American Football game on Saturday, September 1 has revealed that

‘The Gathering Ireland’ will be the sponsor for the game that will showcase one of the finest sporting traditions in American College Football.

Tickets sold out in less than two hours when they went on sale a few months ago. It also marks the largest ever contingent of travelling fans for a stand-alone sporting event outside the US with over 33,000 making the trip to Ireland.

The Gathering Ireland 2013 is a year long celebration that will range from small get-togethers to large scale music festivals, cultural and sporting events. The Gathering showcases all that is unique and great about Ireland and is hoping to inspire anyone with a connection to visit in 2013.

Jim Miley, the director for The Gathering Ireland, said:

“We are inviting our friends from all across the world to Ireland next year for the Gathering Ireland 2013.

“It is going to be an incredible year in Ireland with a packed calendar of local gatherings and events, some entirely new with some of the more familiar events bigger and better than ever before. Millions of people around the world, and particularly in America, share a connection with our country, or simply a desire to visit Ireland.

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As well as the travelling fans, the game will be seen live across the United States on both the CBS Network channel and their sports digital channel, and all over the world as ESPN America will carry the CBS feed as well.

CBS Sports Network will also be broadcasting a special two-hour Emerald Isle Classic preview programme prior to kick off, and will have correspondents filing reports from Dublin and the surrounding area throughout game week. The game is also expected to be fed to US service men and women deployed throughout the world via American Forces Network (AFN).

Speaking following the announcement, Chet Gladchuk, Naval Academy Director of Athletics, said:

“This game represents exactly what The Gathering Ireland is all about, a unique coming together in Ireland of Navy and Notre Dame college football fans, some returning to their ancestral home and some travelling for the first time to Ireland.

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Tourism Ireland has been working over the past two years to maximise the number of American fans who will travel to the game.

Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said:

“We are delighted to assist in bringing this major sporting event to Dublin.

“Over 33,000 football fans will travel here, providing a major boost to the economy this autumn.

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