*Originally published in Kerry’s Eye on October 2nd 2025
For the first time in 27 years, the NFL touched down in Dublin, but this time for a regular season game. The matchup last Sunday saw the Pittsburgh Steelers, led by future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, hold off a late Minnesota Vikings comeback to win 24-21.
As usual though, where there is football in Croke Park, no matter the code, a Kerry person is bound to show up. For new gridiron fans Michael Casey and Cathal Donovan from Anascaul, this match was their first ever exposure to an NFL game outside of ‘the odd Super Bowl’.
“I was well impressed by the atmosphere,” said Cathal. Between 30,000 to 40,000 international fans were estimated to have descended on Dublin this past weekend, which helped to bring an authentic gameday feel to Croke Park. “I was impressed with how it felt American but still stayed grounded,” Michael explained. “They had the Artane Band out before kickoff and played mostly Irish music over the speakers but also had team chants from the Steelers. I think they found a nice middle ground for the American and the Irish fans.”
Michael and Cathal did not make the journey alone; they were joined by another Kerryman, Hugh Emerson, from Tralee, who currently lives in Dublin. Hugh has been an NFL fan for five years, with the Los Angeles Rams being his team of choice.
“I had been to an NFL game in London two years ago, but to get to go to a game only 50 minutes from my house was amazing,” said Hugh. “It was a different level of excitement but also pride seeing the NFL come to Dublin, something that the London games can’t emulate for me.”
A key concern for a lot of new fans is not understanding the rules, which, for a three-and-a-half-hour event, can be quite daunting. Michael said, “I definitely think having Hugh there with us helped us understand. I was constantly asking Hugh questions like ‘What’s this?’ and ‘Why are they doing that?’, and it made it much easier for us to understand the flow for sure.”
It was a similar story for Ciara Sugure from Tralee, who got a bus at 5am to get up for the match. She had done some research before the game but had never watched one in full before Sunday’s showdown. “I went with my brother, who’s a huge Steelers fan; he has been to games over in America before, so going with him made it much easier for me to understand,” said Ciara.
In relation to the differing experiences of GAA events in HQ and this NFL game, Ciara said, “I’m used to coming up to Dublin for football matches, but it felt so different to a GAA match; everyone has their own spots they like to go to before a football or hurling match because they’ve been coming for years. But this time there were Steelers and Vikings fans everywhere; nearly every corner of Dublin there was someone in an NFL jersey.”
There was certainly a different atmosphere in and around the stadium on Sunday. Some fans were allowed in from 11:30, almost 3 hours before kickoff. While most were in their seats around 30 minutes before kickoff. The stop-start nature of the game does allow for more opportunities to get food or drink, and fans being allowed to bring alcohol to their seats (something the NFL required) was unsurprisingly welcomed by most.
The American influence could also be seen regarding who was present at the game. Before the match, celebrities paraded the now much bigger sidelines due to the smaller field dimensions the NFL requires. Hollywood star Bill Murray was present after his travels to the kingdom earlier this month. While a host of Irish sporting stars like Bundee Aki, Hannah Tyrrell, Patrick Horgan and Katie McCabe were also hooked by the spectacle of the game.
Steelers fan and two-time All-Ireland champion Paudie Clifford also swung the famous Terrible Towel alongside Steelers legends Ben Roethlisberger and Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis, who opened the scoring 27 years ago.
The big question asked around the weekend, even before a ball was even snapped, was, ‘Will the NFL be back?’
‘I think Dublin delivered big time,’ said Founder of Pro Football Ireland and NFL analyst Michael McQuaid. ‘I don’t see how they don’t come back after this.’
“This is what the fans deserve. You can feel the passion, and it’s really special. I think the NFL will be back,” said Sky Sports NFL presenter Neil Reynolds.
No final decision can or will be made, though, without the signoff of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Speaking at an NFL live event in Dublin on Saturday, Goodell said, “We never like to say whether we’re coming back until we finish the first one, so let’s talk about it Monday. But I have no doubt this is going to be incredibly successful. I also have no doubt that we’ll be back.”
The most important thing for the NFL is whether these newfound fans would come back. “I’d love the game to return, hopefully it becomes an annual thing so more people can watch it. I feel like a Steelers fan already,” said Cathal. For Hugh even being a neutral is more than enough for him to get his NFL fix for the time being:“I’d love if my Rams came over so I could have proper emotional investment, but for now even going as a neutral is more than enough.”
“As a Kerryman, I’d never turn down another trip to Croke Park, so absolutely I’d go again,” said Michael. The government invested almost €10 million into bringing the NFL back to Dublin, and the GAA installed new LED boards and floodlights to reach NFL standards and hoped the game won’t be a “one-off.” However, if the game doesn’t return, at least the fans who showed up on Sunday afternoon were left with memories that hopefully won’t need another 27 years to be realised again.