One of sport’s longest uninterrupted intersectional rivalries, Notre Dame and Navy have been playing each other since 1927.
This year, college football brought the rivalry right to the doorstep of the Fighting Irish with the two schools playing in Ireland on Saturday. Of course, this isn’t the first that the schools have traveled to Ireland. It’s happened twice before in 1996 and 2012.
The schools were scheduled to play in Ireland again in 2020 but the game was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. In 2023, Navy and Notre Dame visited Ireland for the third time in rivalry history and it was an absolute success with 40,000 Americans traveling to Dublin for the game.
40,000 Americans Attend Notre Dame vs. Navy in Ireland
The College Football Classic is a part of a five-game series where the two schools travel to Ireland to play. The first two games in 1997 and 2012 brought over thousands of Americans overseas to watch the Fighting Irish and Midshipmen play.
In 2023, the season-opening contest drew a sold-out crowd in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium with over 48,000 fans in attendance.
There were an estimated 40,000 fans who traveled from the US to watch the game, marking the largest number of Americans traveling to a country for a sporting event.
The game was also broadcast by ESPN’s College GameDay, which also made history, as the first time the program had ever traveled outside the U.S.
There are over 30,000 Notre Dame fans in Ireland, including legendary quarterback Joe Montana, members of the U.S. Congress, and the Supreme Court of Justice.
The Economic Impact of Notre Dame vs. Navy in Ireland
The game was a huge success with the streets filled with fans. Dublin had temporarily renamed Dame Street to “Notre” Dame Street and closed a portion of it starting Friday night.
The city had to create a fan zone for safety purposes.
“The streets of the city are bustling today,” said Will Sadlier, a student at University College Dublin. “It’s good for the local business, the hotels and restaurants.”
The organizers estimated that it made a huge economic impact on Ireland, bringing in over $159 million USD.
Notre Dame has a massive brand. Even without being a state school, they have a huge impact around the world. The total enrollment in 2023 at Notre Dame is just under 9,000 and 40,000 fans traveled to Ireland to watch the game.
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