A few college football games are taking place this weekend.
Beat Navy, yes, but it has been 11 years since Notre Dame last played in Ireland. There is a whole new generation of potential fans to convert on the Emerald Isle and beyond. Already an iconic brand in the United States, Notre Dame gets an opportunity to grow internationally when it takes on the Midshipmen at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.
Notre Dame, which is ranked No. 13 in the AP Top 25, has played in Dublin twice before but this is the first “home” game the Irish are staging abroad. They’re bringing some South Bend flavor along with more than 30,000 fans. Conference realignment, grad transfers and NIL? Not so much. Don’t expect the average European sports fan to know Notre Dame’s eight national championships in football are second only to Alabama , though maybe they will recognize the Fighting Irish nickname or the leprechaun mascot.
Notre Dame is private and doesn’t disclose its merchandise sales. Figures from Fanatics show that in 2023, Notre Dame has been the second best-selling NCAA university — back-to-back national champion Georgia is No. 1 — across the company’s sites, spokesman Seth Schlechter said. Irish journalist Michael McQuaid said NFL merchandise dominates at American football meet-ups and watch parties he attends in Ireland. He estimated that college teams account for up to 10% of the jerseys and hats but “the vast majority of that is Notre Dame gear.”
Notre Dame football hasn’t set up country-specific social media accounts the way some NFL teams have, and they generally post only in English — Gaelic speakers noted a rare exception ahead of the season opener — though Horvath said that may change in the future.
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