The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping the luck of the Irish can help them in their endeavor of one day playing in the Emerald Isle.
The NFL recently awarded the Steelers marketing rights for Ireland and Northern Ireland, which allows the team to conduct “in-person activities such as fan and youth football activities” there.
But that isn’t all the franchise intends on doing to build its global footprint. The Steelers are intent on playing a regular-season game in Ireland at some point in the future, according to Daniel Rooney, the team’s director of business development and strategy.
“Our aspirations long term are to play a game in Ireland,” Rooney said Thursday in Dublin, per the Associated Press. “As we move through the process, we’ll be evaluating all options.”
Ireland has never hosted a regular-season NFL game, though the country did welcome the Steelers and Chicago Bears for a preseason matchup at Dublin’s Croke Park, home of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in 1997.
Croke Park can hold up to 82,300 fans, making it the perfect venue for a potential Steelers regular-season game.
The NFL has held games in England, Germany and Mexico as part of its International Series dating back to 2007. But with marketing rights expanding to countries like Ireland, NFL games could soon be played around the globe.