Since 1993, ESPN’s College GameDay has been the flagship road show in college football. To celebrate the start of the 2024 college football season, the beloved Saturday show will take the rocky road to Dublin, making history with the first ever overseas episode of College GameDay live from the Aer Lingus College Football Classic between FSU and Georgia Tech in Ireland.
College GameDay To Air First-Ever Overseas Show
ESPN announced Saturday that College GameDay will make the trip to Dublin, Ireland in Week 0 of the 2024 college football season. The Aer Lingus College Football Classic, an annual showcase of the sport across the pond, will play host to ESPN’s flagship Saturday show as Dublin welcomes Florida State and Georgia Tech for an all-ACC showdown to open the 2024 season.
Making history for the long-running show, it will be the first time that Rece Davis and co. will broadcast College GameDay from outside of the United States. ESPN was originally meant to take the show across the pond in 2020, when the Notre Dame vs. Navy matchup was cancelled as a result of the global pandemic.
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The appearance of College GameDay is sure to bolster a blossoming relationship between college football and Ireland. The 2023 edition of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic between Notre Dame and Navy saw an estimated 45,000 fans make the journey across the pond, described as the largest movement of American’s since World War II.
“Traveling College GameDay overseas and sharing the excitement and traditions of college football with sports fans from other countries is something we’ve always wanted to do,” ESPN vice president and executive producer Seth Markman said via a press release.
While having a game overseas helps grow the college football brand into an international entity — following the NFL’s recent expansion into international markets — the Aer Lingus College Football Classic welcoming College GameDay to the emerald island also boasts tourism links between America and the Island, as explained by Alison Metcalfe of Tourism Ireland.
“Given that this is the first time the show will broadcast from outside the United States, it is a huge opportunity to showcase some of the unique things to do and see in and around Dublin, and the island of Ireland, to more than two million viewers across the USA, during three hours of live coverage, and inspire them to put Ireland on their future vacation ‘wish-list’.”
There is a sense of poetry around the first episode of College GameDay to be broadcast overseas featuring Florida State. The Seminoles were the opponent when the ESPN flagship began their roadshow in Nov. 1993 with a visit to South Bend, Indiana.
Over 30 years later, FSU will be a part of history once again when they face the Yellowjackets on Aug. 24, 2024. Since that first show, College GameDay has visited 101 cities, 39 states, and featured 81 different programs, establishing itself as the premier Saturday morning show with an average viewership of 2.0 million per week during the 2023 college football season.