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NYTimes
New York Times
20 Oct 2024
Ken Belson


NextImg:How the N.F.L. Builds a Fan Base in Ireland: Watch Parties, Clinics and Guinness

Shane De Lappe and Stephen Murphy arrived at Dublin’s Croke Park last month about an hour before the stadium gates opened. They weren’t going to see Gaelic football or hurling. Instead, the 30-something dads were there for a sold-out watch party hosted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Soon they would be inside, eating wings, dogs and tater tots and washing it all down with pints of Guinness as they watched a telecast of the Steelers playing the Colts in Indianapolis.

The N.F.L. has played only one game in Ireland — a preseason contest in 1997. So, for now, the next-best N.F.L. experience De Lappe and Murphy can get is attending a gathering with more than 800 other avid fans twirling Terrible Towels. Their dream is a trip to the United States to see the Steelers play in the Super Bowl.

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The Steelers lost to the Colts in Indianapolis, but the fans in Dublin enjoyed food and Guinness.Credit...Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
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Shane De Lappe, a Steelers fan in Ireland, said his dream is to see the team in the Super Bowl in person.Credit...Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times

“I would sell a kidney for it,” De Lappe said. “The two of us are Steelers fans, so hopefully we’ll get over there in the next few years.”


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