TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny will formally announce a “major international sports tourism event” in Dublin tomorrow and The42 understands he will confirm the 2016 college American football game between Boston College and Georgia Tech is set to go ahead after all.
However, as first reported here in May, the game is expected to move from Croke Park to the Aviva Stadium — which hosted the 2012 game between Notre Dame and Navy — after the GAA announced it was not financially viable for them to host the encounter due currency issues earlier this year.
While The42 has sought official confirmation of the news, we have yet to receive a reply from either the Taoiseach’s press office or any of the parties involved in attempting to rescue the game.
Tomorrow’s launch, however, is set to take place at FIRE Restaurant & Venue in the Mansion House which is also home to Corporate.ie, whose spokesman told us earlier this year they were looking at “every option and opportunity to bring another high profile College Football [game] to Ireland as soon as is feasibly possible, if it can be 2016 all the better.”
Additionally, a source close to negotiations for the original Croke Park game told The42 earlier this week they believed a “major announcement would be made regarding the event in the coming days.”
Should Boston College and Georgia Tech go ahead, it will mark the third time in six years Ireland has hosted a high-profile college American football game with 55,000 fans from the US travelling to Ireland to attend the previous two encounters.
It is estimated that each event is worth in the region of €20-25 million to the local economy.
