THE GAA HAVE not abandoned their plans to bring an NFL game to Croke Park in the future.
Attempts to attract American football to Croke Park as part of the International Series were thwarted with London instead being selected by the NFL to host games.
This year the Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Minnesota Vikings at Wembley Stadium on September 29th.
The GAA have since turned their attentions to college football with the Croke Park Classic between Penn State and UCF scheduled for next August.
But Director-General Paraic Duffy insists they still remain hopeful of seeing NFL action at Croke Park.
“I think the NFL recognised that in many ways Croke Park was a good venue. But I think they have aspirations perhaps to establish a franchise in London and that was the key reason why we didn’t get it.
“They did say to us if it hadn’t been to London for two games, it would have been in Dublin. We made a very strong pitch. We’d huge support from ambassador Dan Rooney on that.
“They admitted they were hugely impressed by the presentation the GAA made. We’ve proven before we can stage big events in Croke Park.
“We haven’t given up on that. I think that there is a possibility they will play more games in Europe than the two they are playing at the moment.
“Our hat’s in the ring and hopefully over the next couple of years that will come to fruition. I’m not so sure this (the college game) will help get an NFL game but it keeps our hat in the ring to pitch for it if they change direction.”
