Steelers Now
It’s official. The Pittsburgh Steelers will play a regular season game in Ireland in 2025, the league announced on Friday morning. The venue of the contest will be at the historic Croke Park.
“We are delighted to officially bring a regular season NFL game to Ireland as part of our 2025 International Games slate,” said Executive Vice President International, League Events and Club Business at the NFL Peter O’Reilly, via Steelers.com. “Both the NFL and the Steelers franchise have deep roots and history in Ireland, and we’re looking forward to making our regular-season debut in Dublin, bringing our game to a large and passionate Irish fan base and underlining the NFL’s commitment to global growth.”
The Steelers’ opponent has not been announced yet, but there is growing speculation that it will be the Green Bay Packers. The opponent, date and kickoff time will be announced by the NFL when the 2025 NFL schedule is revealed this spring.
Alan Saunders of Steelers Now has been told to expect the Steelers game in Ireland to be on Sept. 28. That’s Week 4.
The Steelers will give up a home game due to playing in Ireland, as they are required to do by NFL rule at least once every eight years. The Steelers have never hosted an international game. They played as the visiting team against the Minnesota Vikings in London in 2013.
Ar Aghaidh Linn 🇮🇪☘️
The NFL is coming to Dublin, Ireland and the @steelers are the designated team! pic.twitter.com/kpAemsOUvc
— NFL UK & Ireland (@NFLUKIRE) February 7, 2025
The Steelers have expressed that playing a game in Ireland is one of their long-term goals. The team gained the NFL marketing rights for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland through the NFL’s Global Markets Program two years ago.
The Rooneys have deep ties to Ireland. Dan Rooney served as the United States Ambassador to Ireland, from 2009-2012. He was also co-founder of the Ireland-related fundraising organization The Ireland Funds.
“We are very excited to be the designated team in the first regular season game to be played in Ireland this upcoming season,” Steelers’ president Art Rooney II. “The opportunity for the Pittsburgh Steelers to play in Ireland is truly special, not only because of the Rooney family history there, but also to play in front of the growing number of Steelers fans in Ireland. We are thrilled to be part of this historic event to represent Pittsburgh in a game that brings the NFL to the great sports fans in Ireland.”
Croke Park is much older than Aviva Stadium. It was opened in 1884 compared to when Aviva Stadium was in 2010, but it’s capacity is much larger. Croke Park can hold 82,300 people compared to Aviva Stadium’s capacity of 51,700.
Croke Park has also already played host to a preseason game between the Steelers and Chicago Bears back in 1997. The Steelers defeated the Bears 30-17 in the contest.
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