The game is part of the NFL’s ongoing commitment to global expansion.
The National Football League (NFL) will play its first-ever regular-season game in Dublin later this year as part of the expansion of the league’s global footprint. The 2025 NFL Dublin game will take place at the Croke Park Stadium, the largest sporting arena in Ireland, in partnership with the Government of Ireland and Dublin City Council.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, a team with roots and history in Ireland, will play as the designated team for the historic first game. The Steelers’ president, Art Rooney II, has family from Newry. His father, the late Dan M. Rooney, served as US ambassador to Ireland from 2009 to 2012, and was a co-founder of the Ireland Funds charity. Furthermore, the Steelers are one of only two NFL teams to have played a game in Ireland to date: a game in the American Bowl series in June 1997 against the Chicago Bears at Croke Park.
According to Patrick O’Donovan, Minister for Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport of Ireland, hosting a regular-season NFL game will have “huge benefits for Irish tourism, the wider economy and our sports ecosystem.”
