The Pittsburgh Steelers are heading overseas in 2025. In fact, they’re going back to their roots. The Irish Rooney family that’s owned the franchise since its 1933 founding will host the NFL’s first regular season game in Ireland next season. Though it’s been the NFL’s worst-kept secret for months, the league officially announced the Steelers will host a game there in 2025.
A date and opponent hasn’t been officially announced.
It will be the Steelers’ first overseas game since 2013 when the team travelled to London in a loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Rumors have consistently swirled about the Steelers playing internationally in Ireland. Rooney routinely expressed a desire to host the game while commissioner Roger Goodell admitted he was consistently hearing from the franchise. Final approval from the Irish government was reported late last year, giving the NFL the green light to make this game happen.
The NFL’s ever-expanding global market now reaches Dublin. The game will be held in Croke Park, an iconic and nearly 141-year-old stadium that holds up to 82,300.
“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,” Team President Art Rooney II said in a statement via the team website. “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.”
While this is the first regular season Ireland game, it’s not the first time the NFL or even the Steelers have played there. In 1997, the Steelers and Chicago Bears held a preseason game in Dublin. Pittsburgh came out on top 30-17. The team website has a short highlight reel of the day, including a RB Jerome Bettis touchdown.
Pittsburgh had been in contention to play an international game for the past several years. But the 2020 pandemic and stadium construction in Mexico City prevented anything from materializing. In their London trip more than a decade ago, the Steelers arrived late and teammates cited fatigue and jet lag that as one reason for their poor performance in a 34-27 loss to the Vikings. We’ll see if Pittsburgh leaves earlier this time around. A 2023 study from The Athletic showed most teams in recent years arrived on Friday, 48 hours before kickoff. But some teams will touch down days before hand and the study suggested teams who arrive earlier win more often.
The 2025 London teams have already been announced with the team reportedly hoping to host eight total international games this season, up from the five held in 2024.
Because Pittsburgh is considered the “home team,” they will lose one of their nine home games at Acrisure Stadium. Instead, the team will play eight in Pittsburgh, eight on the road, and one in Ireland. The official date won’t be announced until later this year around the full schedule release in May.
