International American Football: Yes, College Football in Ireland

On Saturday, the Penn State Nittany Lions kicked off their 2014-2015 football season with a game against the University of Central Florida Knights. It wasn't in front of 105,000 fans at Beaver Stadium, or in sunny Florida, but rather in Dublin, Ireland at Croke Park. The American football international revolution continues.
International NFL
Last year, the National Football League's international series hit it's highest point with a game between the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers. The game pulled 83,000 fans to the game at Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom, in addition to 520,000 attendees to a football festival in downtown London before the game.

Looking to next year, the NFL will host three games in London, two of which sold out in days. All of the "home" teams for these games happen to be ones that are having stadium troubles. This has fueled the rumors that the NFL is looking to move a franchise from a weak market in the US to London or another city in the UK; the main contenders are Oakland and Jacksonville.

International College Sport
Now, back to Penn State-UCF. For years, collegiate teams have been taking international trips and playing against both domestic and international competition, just it isn't normally a football team of 100 players with 30 staff and a 150-student band.

After a slight volcano scare, the teams arrived in the Emerald Isle ready to experience an ancient culture ready for rejuvenation! I was lucky enough to spend four days in Dublin last summer, and it is truly a city on the come-up. The country offers gracious tax laws for large corporations and allows quick and inexpensive air travel to the rest of Europe.

For the game, the University enlisted a travel agency that offered travel packages for fans starting at about $1,500, not including airfare. The most expensive package started at about $3,100, not including airfare, which sold out alongside the rest of the offerings.

It is clear that Penn State fans are among the craziest in college sport, so they will obviously travel far to see their Lions play. Peter McKenna, director of Croke Park Stadium, estimated that 20,000 overseas travelers will have made their way to Dublin and inject at least 30 million euros into the local economy.

Overall, it is clear that the players will greatly enjoy these trips, the University's will get more international exposure, and the host countries will make a great sum of money. Also, it will continue to spread the American football attention beyond the borders of the continental United States.