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Vikings fans clamor for tickets ahead of Ireland's first-ever NFL regular season game
Vikings to head to Dublin for first ever NFL regular season game in Ireland
Vikings to head to Dublin for first ever NFL regular season game in Ireland
Vikings to head to Dublin for first ever NFL regular season game in Ireland
The Minnesota Vikings are taking their show overseas this season, twice. The team has played in London before, but Ireland will be a first.
As of Wednesday morning, tickets are still available for the Sept. 28 contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Dublin's Croke Park.
This will be the first regular-season NFL game played in Ireland, and only the second NFL game played in the country since 1997's preseason match-up between the Steelers and the Chicago Bears.
Vikings fans were among the thousands scrambling to score tickets for the showdown in Dublin.
"Demand vastly outstripped the supply of tickets," said Conor Brophy, host of the NFL Irish Podcast. "It was over 600,000 people in the queue at one stage. There's only 76,000 tickets available for the game."
Vikings fans are flooding social media, posting photos of their purple gear, looking for tickets and asking for advice on where to stay, what to do and how to have fun in Dublin.
Brophy says he's counting the days.
"The excitement here is palpable," he said. "We've seen fandom for the game grow, and people have come to it from many different directions."
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Where there's a draw, there's a price. Tickets range from about $100 to $600.
If you book through the team's site, they have all-inclusive packages starting at $1,300 per person.
Locally, Irish fans are embracing the NFL with the same buzz as a sold-out concert tour.
"The only comparable excitement that I would have seen is when Taylor Swift was coming here," Brophy said.
With just under 100 days til the game, talk about a "Cruel Summer." But that gives Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell time to prepare. He says he's ready for the challenge on the field and off.
"When you think about opportunities to play in unique atmospheres, what better way to do that?" O'Connell said.
With scam sites popping up fast, fans are being told if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Kickoff in Dublin will be at 8:30 a.m. CST, or 2:30 p.m. IST. And the team returns to London just days later to face the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Minnesota is 4-0 in regular season games in London, including wins against the Steelers in 2013 and the Browns in 2017. The Vikings also played four international exhibition games in the '80s and '90s, winning all as well.
, and contributed to this report.
