Saturday marks the eighth edition of college football in Dublin, Ireland as #13 Notre Dame takes on Navy in Aviva Stadium. This will be the third time that ND plays in this format, a game that is now branded the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.
In past years, its been labeled the: Emerald Isle Classic, Shamrock Classic (not to be confused with Notre Dame annual neutral site games- the Shamrock Series) and Croke Park Classic.
Slainte! The waterford crystal trophy that Northwestern and Nebraska will play for in Dublin next August is here. Note the #Ireland and #USA flags at the bottom.
Good interview with the @AerLingus College Football Classic people at halftime. Story upcoming. #B1GCats #GoBigRed pic.twitter.com/OGN3eDlmyr— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) November 7, 2021
Aer Lingus Classic FYIs
Notre Dame vs Navy
Kickoff: Sat Aug 29, 2:30 EST, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
TV/Stream: NBC, NBCSports.com
Previous meetings in Dublin: Notre Dame won both, 54-10 in 2012 and 54-27 in 1996
The best name this football game has had is the Emerald Isle Classic, but hey you know how the world works- wherever and whenever there is money to be made, then it’s all #ForTheBrand. And with college football, selling out the names of things is as endemic to the sport as arguing over where a team is ranked.
However, the Dublin game is simply made for Notre Dame, and honestly they should, or at least could, be in it every single year. There is the obvious tie-in with their Fighting Irish nickname, plus the fanbase demographics that the moniker attracts. I.e. a lot of their fans are indeed Irish, so why not have a game in Ireland every year!
Plus there is the fact that the Fighting Irish nickname stems from a skirmish in 1924 when the student body whooped up on the Ku Klux Klan and drove them out of South Bend. Navy has played Notre Dame every year since 1927, making it college football’s longest uninterrupted intersectional rivalry.
And because Navy’s home stadium is too small in capacity, all Naval Academy home games in this series get moved to a neutral site
This year’s match-up is a reschedule from 2020, when Covid-19 canceled that game. Next year’s match-up at Aviva Stadium will feature Florida State vs. Georgia Tech. Hopefully, Notre Dame will be in it in 2025, and every other year, or every other year, going forward.
Because after all, love ’em or hate ’em, the Fighting Irish are always a big draw.
According to data published by a ticket scalper yesterday, Notre Dame is the third most in-demand team of the season, based on ticket sales.
Happy college football week zero to those who celebrate. Enjoy the weirdness of this quasi-college football Saturday. In the words of Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins: “I’m your lover, I’m your zero, I’m the face in your dreams of glass.
And enjoy a couple more photos of the main tourist attractions in Dublin, embedded in this post.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.