THERE ARE NO immediate plans for a competitive American football fixture to take place in Ireland, despite the senior advisor to NFL Commissioner claiming that the association have been “in constant conversation with Croke Park officials”.

Speaking to The Last Word show on Today FM, Joe Browne said that while the NFL were “aware of the interest” from Ireland, officials had to do “what’s right for the league, what’s right for the teams and what’s right for the communities”.

He continued: “Right now, the sponsors have thrived when we play the game at Wembley. We had a record sell-out of 84,00 two weeks ago.

“We can’t play every game we want to play, because we have a regular season with 16 games.”

He added that the Irish fans’ desire to see the best players in the league further complicates matters.

“I was at Croke Park in 97 with the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Bears and it was only a friendly game, and the Irish fans have become so sophisticated that they don’t want friendlies, they want the real deal. They want Tom Brady and Eli Manning.

“It’s a balancing act, but for this year and next year, we’re going to be playing our regular season games in Wembley.”

Browne also defended the sport against suggestions, often made by European sports fans, that the games go on too long.

“It’s a three-hour game. And I’ve listened to Irish relatives complain about our game [in comparison with] soccer, but we have those games still on free television. That’s a big selling point for us – you don’t need cable.”

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