Thousands descend on Dublin for American football game

More than 24,000 American football fans have travelled to Dublin for the opening game of the US College football season.

Since 2012, the capital has regularly played host to the major US sporting fixture, which has a television audience of around 4.5 million on the American sports network ESPN.

The game between the Kansas State 'Wildcats' and the Iowa State ‘Cyclones' which kicks off at 5pm at the Aviva Stadium is known as 'Farmageddon' because of the rivalry between the two predominately rural states.

Cheerleaders and brass bands have been seen performing on the streets of the capital after both teams taking part in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic travelled to Ireland earlier this week with a 125 member cheer squad and bands.

Pep rallies and tailgating parties have also been taking place across Dublin as part of the build up to the event which is estimated to be worth €130 million to the Irish economy.

Cheerleaders and brass bands have travelled to Dublin for the game

The fixture will be a welcome boost to the tourist sector as data from the Central Statistics Office shows that the number of inbound visitors to Ireland has been down every month of the year so far, up to and including the important month of June.

Tourism Ireland has partnered with ESPN to showcase Ireland during that broadcast - with video segments about the country and on-screen prompts for people to plan a visit.

Alice Mansergh, CEO of Tourism Ireland said the event is valuable from a tourism perspective.

"What we know from the college football is, once our US visitors, cross the Atlantic, they will usually stay for seven days and travel around so you've got businesses right around the regions seeing the benefits," she said.

Next month Ireland plays host to its first ever regular NFL fixture when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Minnesota Vikings at Croke Park on Sunday, 28 September.

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