THE MEETING OF Navy and Notre Dame, scheduled to take place at the Aviva Stadium on 29 August, will not now take place in Dublin, organisers have confirmed. 

Almost 40,000 Americans were booked to attend the Aer Lingus Classic with an estimated TV audience of six million tuning into ESPN’s coverage.  

Instead, the teams now plan on facing off at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, USA. 

“College football is one of the greatest spectacles in world sport and we had been thoroughly looking forward to welcoming Navy and Notre Dame here this summer for the first game of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic Series,” says  Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. 

“Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, that is now not possible, but we hope to see both universities return to Aviva Stadium in the coming years.

“Longer term, the Aer Lingus College Football Classic five-game series, now due to begin in 2021 with Illinois vs Nebraska at Aviva Stadium, will provide a significant economic boost for the Irish tourism and hospitality sector.”

Ticketholders will be contacted by their purchase provider in the coming days, organisers say.