It’s no secret that the Pittsburgh Steelers have expressed their desire to play a game in Ireland. The team has the global marketing rights to the country, and team owner Art Rooney II said that the team “absolutely” wants to play a game in Ireland. With the league’s global footprint expanding, with a Dolphins-Chiefs matchup in Germany in Week Nine followed by the Patriots and Colts also facing off in the country in Week 10. Along with the numerous London games and previous games in Mexico, it’s clear that the NFL wants to spread to as many countries as possible.
NBC Sports’ Peter King wrote in his Football Morning in America column that Dublin is in line for a game, one that would feature the Steelers. Based off how the NFL schedule works, King thinks it could happen in 2025 or 2027.
“Spain and Brazil in the next two years, Paris in 2025 or beyond, and Dublin at some point soon. The Steelers would like to play a designated home game there at some point soon and would likely have nine home games in 2025 and 2027,” King wrote while speculating about future international game sites. He said rumors place the Chicago Bears as having a home game in Spain in 2024.
With AFC teams having nine home games every other year, the home team for international games would have to be in the conference that has the extra home game (hence why the Bears would host next season) so teams aren’t playing an unbalanced schedule.
It would be a cool piece of history for the Steelers to play in Ireland. The Rooneys have long ties to the country, as they immigrated to the United States from Ireland in the 1800s. The late Dan Rooney also worked as the United States Ambassador to Ireland from 2009-2012, as appointed by President Barack Obama. With the Steelers now holding the marketing rights to Ireland, they can host in-person fan activities throughout the country to drive engagement and expand their fan base.
That’s one of the key reasons why Pittsburgh would get the Ireland game. NFL VP/international Peter O’Reilly told King that the reason the Patriots and Chiefs have designated home games in Germany is that both teams essentially volunteered to do so due to their fan bases in that country because they have the marketing rights.
With the Steelers looking to grow their Ireland fan base through marketing rights and already expressing interest in a game in Ireland, if a game in Dublin was to be put on the schedule, the Steelers would almost assuredly get it. By the sounds of it, it’s going to happen in the next five years, so Steelers fans might need to get ready to set their alarms a little earlier for a presumed 9:30 a.m. kickoff.
