will an sec team play in ireland?
GEORGE SOMERVILLE – THE TOUCHDOWN SEC CORRESPONDENT
Could we see SEC Football being played in the College Football Classic in Ireland?
During an interview with the College Chaps podcast back in October last year, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey told the Chaps that the SEC had held discussions with CFB Ireland to send a team to the College Football Classic at some point in the future.
So when reports surfaced earlier this year that LSU was interested in coming over to Europe to play in the season opener, it felt like the pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place.
Failtie to ireland
With LSU coach Brian Kelly being the first head coach to take to the podium on day 1 of SEC Media days, the opportunity to talk about the Irish proposition arrived early.
So I asked Kelly how important it is to expand the Tigers’ brand outside of the US and what it would mean for him to take a team back to Ireland.
“Well, as a Irish Catholic and somebody that loves to go to Ireland, not to just be at the Temple Bar, but to be in Ireland and the history and the culture of Ireland, I just think from our brand, we’ve done such a good job with the LSU brand throughout the country. I think the next step for us is international”, Kelly told me.
With Kelly in charge of Notre Dame in 2012 he has experience of taking a team across the pond, when the Irish defeated Navy convincingly 50-10. The Irish were also scheduled to play in Ireland again in 2020, a game which was postponed due to Covid. By the time the rescheduled game was played, Kelly had moved to Baton Rouge. Regardless, Kelly is well placed to talk about playing a college game outside of the US.
“I’ve felt the travel there is so clean and easy. Ireland has been such a great destination for other football programs to go and play. Aviva, Cork stadium, both great venues to play in”.
Kelly said as he expanded his answer about playing the season opener in Ireland.
So, what are the chances of it happening? It turns out Kelly is very keen and looking to take the Tigers overseas. Kelly continued,
“I just think it sets up so easy from my perspective for American football to go over there and be received first of all, and then getting the matchup there. So I’m a huge proponent. I’ve been pushing our administration and hopefully we’re able to see that come to fruition”.
This is all very positive if you are a Tigers fan, a fan of the SEC, or even just a college football fan, for LSU is a huge name to be playing in this game. As many people said to me over the course of the week in Dallas, can you imagine thousands of LSU fans in Dublin, George? Well, yes, that would be quite something.
#geauxtigers
Footnote: The Commissioner's View
Referencing back to that interview between the SEC Commissioner and the College Chaps last year, Sankey talked about his interest in playing SEC football outside the US, the teams appetite and also the level of interest he experiences when visiting both the UK and Ireland about the demand for college football this side of the pond. This is what Sankey had to say,
“Dating back to 2016 and 2017, I was in Dublin both of those summers. That was my vacation.
On both occasions, I took time in conversation, both with people in the States and people in Ireland. One time I included tea with the Lord Mayor of Dublin, talking about the possibility of an SEC team or two playing in Dublin. You know, there’s some realities around the size of our stadiums and the economics of making that move.
The second time I was there, I actually was eating dinner while on a conference call. I was eating that dinner in Dublin. On the conference call, it was two of our teams with Anthony Travel talking about that very possibility.
It hasn’t worked out. We’ve been attentive to what’s happened with our college colleagues. So this year, watching Notre Dame and Navy, and then having a little bit of debrief with Jack Swarbrick, the Notre Dame Athletics Director, about how that management and learning has helped them improve.
“I visited Aviva Stadium for what we call a soccer game on one of those trips, just to see the facility and that group was great at showing me around. I went to Croke Park as well, which is kind of more our fan size. I was admittedly there to watch U2, so American football wasn’t on my mind that night.
And I made a couple trips to London before I was commissioner and have paid pretty close attention. I’m a Buffalo fan, so they played in London, somewhat unsuccessfully this year. But it’s really fascinating to watch the crowd shots to me, those NFL games where you don’t see like Buffalo fans or Jacksonville fans.
You see jerseys from all 32 NFL teams spread throughout whatever stadium the game may be played in. You know, I don’t know if it works, but it’s something that we’ve continued to discuss. Perhaps at some point, things will align, the right teams will have interest, whether it’s two conference opponents or an SEC team versus another.
But it’s something that’s at least an annual conversation still for us.”
You can listen to the College Chaps full interview with SEC Commissioner, Greg Sankey here.
GEORGE SOMERVILLE
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITER
George is a long standing fanatic of life and football in the Deep South & writes his weekly column for the Touchdown called “It’s Only SEC (but I like it)”. He is also ONE THIRD OF THE COLLEGE CHAPS PODCAST, the UK’s first podcast dedicated to the college game.