Dreaming of 2023 in Dublin, already
As the 2022 Notre Dame regular season wraps up tomorrow against USC, it won’t take long for the excitement and focus to already shift to the start of 2023, especially given the strong performance in the second half of this year the Irish enjoyed under first-year head coach Marcus Freeman.
So in a collaborative effort between the On Location Experiences ticket and travel agency, and the University of Notre Dame, travel packages are already available for the 2023 Fighting Irish season opener against Navy for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium on Aug. 26, in Dublin, Ireland.
This will be third game between Notre Dame and Navy played in Dublin. The two proud programs met there in 1996. And more recently, Notre Dame and Navy played there to open the 2012 season.
On Location Experiences Vice President of Marketing, Joe Wunderlick, explained how his company has already sold more than 4,000 travel packages to Notre Dame fans for the 2023 Dublin game.
Wunderlick added that he believes the game will eventually attract more than 35,000 visitors from the U.S.
“A lot of fans that went in 2012 want to go again,” Wunderlick said. “Or, they didn’t go in 2012 and have been kicking themselves for not, and they don’t want to miss out on the opportunity again.”
Notre Dame and Navy were scheduled to play in Dublin to open the 2020 season, but the game was wiped out by the pandemic.
“There was similar strong interest and excitement from fans and travelers for the 2020 game, pre-pandemic,” Wunderlick said. “But they had to cancel that game. So, this is kind of the remake. The fans are very excited to go again.”
In all, there have been seven American college football games played in Dublin, dating back to 1988.
Northwestern and Nebraska opened their 2022 seasons at Aviva Stadium last August.
Boston College vs. Army (1988); Pitt vs Rutgers (1989); Penn State vs. Central Florida (2014); and Boston College vs. Georgia Tech (2016) are the others, along with the two previous Notre Dame vs. Navy meetings.
“Obviously the Notre Dame and Navy relationship goes back so many years, and there is such a rich tradition at both schools,” Wunderlick explained. “That’s what makes this such a terrific fit for this game. And Notre Dame’s connection to Ireland also makes it an attractive destination for them.”
The U.S. to Dublin travel packages — which can be found at onlocationexp.com — can be customized by the length of stay, and individual vacation interests.
Some packages provide guests the opportunity to include stops and stays at different Irish cities beyond Dublin, including Belfast, Kerry, Galway and others.
Golf packages are available and there’s even a travel package that’s centered around the popular HBO television series “Game of Thrones,” which includes a tour of its production studio.
Wunderlick explained that Aer Lingus flights will depart for Dublin out of airports throughout the U.S.
The direct flight from Chicago to Dublin takes seven hours.
“That’s not much longer than it would take to fly across the United States,” Wunderlick said. “You’re not losing a bunch of time traveling. You get to Dublin, and you hit the ground running once you arrive.”
