Florida State and Georgia Tech will open the 2024 football season in Dublin, Ireland, in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced today. The game, which will be the ACC opener for both schools, will be held Aug. 24, 2024, at Aviva Stadium, and Georgia Tech will serve as the home team.
This will be the second time two ACC schools have opened the season in Dublin. Georgia Tech, which is making its second appearance in the Aer Lingus Classic, downed Boston College, 17-14, in the 2016 version in Dublin. This will mark the first international game in the storied history of Florida State football.
“This is an incredible opportunity for our student-athletes at Florida State and Georgia Tech to expand the reach of ACC football and play in front of an international audience,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “We appreciate the flexibility of both Florida State and Georgia Tech, and thank our partners at Irish American Events for making this game a reality. The ACC is recognized around the globe for the combination of outstanding athletics and academics at its member institutions. We look forward to and are excited about showcasing these two teams and our incredible conference to the fans in Dublin.”
“The Aer Lingus College Football Classic is fast becoming a popular fixture in the Irish sporting calendar, with supporters from America, Ireland and beyond gathering in Dublin to enjoy the atmosphere and high-quality college football,” said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD. “The game will provide a huge boost to tourism and hospitality in Ireland and we look forward to welcoming the teams and supporters of Georgia Tech and Florida State University to the Aviva Stadium in August 2024.”
The game is being organized by Irish American Events Ltd. (IAEL). Anthony Travel/On Location and Corporate.ie partnered together in 2016 to create the Aer Lingus College Football Classic through the formation of IAEL. IAEL aims to bring American college football to Ireland each year to promote Ireland as a travel destination, and 2024 will be the third consecutive season that college football begins its season with a game in Dublin between two prestigious teams.
IAEL most recently took gold in the Best Collaboration between Public and Private Sector category at the 2023 Invest in Ireland Awards and has been previously recognized as the Best International Sports Event (Federation of Irish Sport Sport Industry Awards, 2016), Best Major Event (Irish Tourism Awards, 2017) and Best Sporting Event (Event Industry Awards, 2017).
“After tremendous success in 2022 with the Aer Lingus College Football Classic leading the Irish tourism recovery post-COVID, we are absolutely thrilled to be heading back to Ireland in 2023 and now to announce this exciting matchup between ACC foes Florida State and Georgia Tech in 2024,” said John Anthony, Co-Founder of the Aer Lingus Classic and Executive VP, Collegiate of On Location. “We are excited to welcome Georgia Tech back again and look forward to introducing Florida State and Seminole fans to the spectacular people and beauty of Ireland.”
College Football (FBS) Games in Ireland
1988 – Lansdowne Road Stadium – Dublin, Boston College 38, Army 24
1989 – Lansdowne Road Stadium – Dublin, Pittsburgh 46, Rutgers 29
1996 – Croke Park – Dublin, Notre Dame 54, Navy 27
2012 – Aviva Stadium – Dublin, Notre Dame 50, Navy 10
2014 – Croke Park – Dublin, Penn State 26, UCF 24
2016 – Aviva Stadium – Dublin, Georgia Tech 17, Boston College 14
2022 – Aviva Stadium – Dublin, Northwestern 31, Nebraska 28
2023 – Aviva Stadium – Dublin, Navy vs. Notre Dame 2024 – Aviva Stadium – Dublin, Florida State vs. Georgia Tech