US brings college football razzmatazz to Dublin

An entourage of around 510 people has arrived in Dublin for this weekend's American football game between Northwestern Wildcats and Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Aviva Stadium.

Around 40,000 people are expected to attend tomorrow evening’s game, according to American football promoter John Anthony.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said one team brought 243 people, while the other brought 267 people, which includes "a lot of players, coaches, plus the bands and the cheerleaders that came with them".

When asked why bring the sport to the Aviva Stadium, Mr Anthony said it is because "Ireland is so welcoming".

"The Irish-American connections are so strong and so deep," he said.

Mr Anthony said activities such as this have now been going on for decades, after "wonderful" Irish families pushed to bring American football teams to Ireland.

"That opened our eyes to it and what the possibilities could be. We have seen for the participating universities so many great benefits for their students that come," he said.

He said he would "hesitate" to give a figure, but it costs "many millions of dollars" to bring the game to Ireland, while it is worth an estimated €63 million to the Irish economy.

Mr Anthony said that tomorrow’s match - the Aer Lingus College Football Classic - has real stakes and is "not some exhibition match or anything of the sort".

"These are from the top conference in the US. This counts," he said.

"This is high-quality American college football. The players who are on the field here will be in the NFL next year."

Mr Anthony explained that there are stoppages after every play, as well as half-time, which he said is "all part of the spectacle".

"There's entertainment before the game, there's entertainment at half-time. The