Wildcats Daily

Tickets for the Northwestern v. Nebraska Aer Lingus College Football Classic Game On Sale Jan. 31

The Wildcats and the Cornhuskers will travel to Dublin, Ireland, to kick off the 2022 football season.

Alyssa Haduck

The Northwestern Wildcats will open the 2022 football season against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Dublin, Ireland, in an Aer Lingus College Football Classic matchup on August 27, 2022. Tickets for the game will go on sale at 9 a.m. CT on Monday, January 31, and will be available at NUSports.com or by calling the Northwestern ticket office at 888-GO-PURPLE.

The contest — which will be played at Aviva Stadium, home to Ireland’s national rugby and soccer teams — will be the Wildcats’ first outside of the United States.

“We are thrilled that our program will get to experience the beautiful Irish culture, while we continue to help grow the game of college football on a global stage,” Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald said in a press release. “It's an honor to be included in this once-in-a-lifetime event, and we can't wait to have the Northwestern faithful join us in one of the world's most amazing settings.”

Northwestern and Nebraska will compete for the Keough-Naughton trophy, named for businessmen Don Keough and Martin Naughton, who each have Irish roots. Together, Keough and Naughton have advanced teachings of Irish history and culture through the University of Notre Dame, establishing the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies and the Keough-Naughton Notre Dame Centre in Dublin, among other opportunities.

The Wildcats plan on making the most of their time in Ireland according to John Anthony, a representative of Irish American Events Limited. He said that Fitzgerald is interested in keeping the team in the country for a few days after the game to explore.

“With his connectivity as a proud Irish American, he wants the guys to understand a whole new culture,” Anthony told members of the media during the 2021 season.

Anthony said the Wildcats may participate in a sport exchange, where they partner with teams from other Irish athletic activities, like Gaelic football, and bond over a love for the game. Northwestern players may also tour some of the country’s iconic sights, including the Kilmainham Gaol, a former prison that housed some of Ireland’s most famous political and military leaders.

But these unique experiences aren’t exclusive to the team — fans can embark on their own Irish excursions through travel packages available at Cats2Ireland.com.

“It’s much more than a game,” said Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s executive vice president for the United States and Canada. “The game is one day, but we want people come to the game and spend seven days, 10 days, touring around and seeing our culture and heritage.”

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Alyssa Haduck
ALYSSA HADUCK

Alyssa Haduck is a reporter for Wildcats Daily on Sports Illustrated's FanNation Network. She has also written for the Washington Football Team, the United States Golf Association, and the University of Maryland athletic department. Haduck is currently a graduate student studying sports journalism at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism.

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