On Saturday, Florida State will open its highly anticipated 2024 football season.
Over the years, the Seminoles have started their season in a variety of locations. Usually it’s at home, in sunny and steamy Doak Campbell Stadium in late August or early September. In other cases, like the previous two seasons against LSU, it’s been at a neutral site in the United States.
This year, Florida State has to travel a little further for its first game of the season.
REQUIRED READING: What FSU football QB coach Tony Tokarz said about DJ Uiagalelei’s “continued growth”
Nearly nine full months after winning the ACC and losing the College Football Playoff, the Seminoles will face Georgia Tech in Dublin in what will be the first FBS college football game of the 2024 season.
While the benefits of such a game are obvious, especially for players and fans, this arrangement also raises some questions. For example, why would a game between two conference opponents whose campuses are a 4.5-hour drive apart be played 4,000 miles apart?
Here’s what you need to know about the Seminoles’ Week 0 game against Georgia Tech and why it’s in Dublin:
Location Florida State vs. Georgia Tech
- stadium: Aviva Stadium
- Location: Dublin
Florida State and Georgia Tech will play in Dublin at Aviva Stadium, home of the Irish national rugby and soccer teams. The stadium has a seating capacity of 49,000 for American football games.
The Seminoles-Yellow Jackets clash will be the third college football game in as many years at Aviva Stadium, just after Northwestern-Nebraska in 2022 and Notre Dame-Navy in 2023.
Why is the Florida State vs. Georgia Tech game being played in Ireland?
It may seem strange to travel thousands of miles across the ocean to see a game between two teams that have played 25 of their 27 meetings on campus, but there are reasons why the Florida State-Georgia Tech matchup is taking place in Dublin.
Saturday’s contest is part of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, whose naming rights belong to Ireland’s best-known airline. The series was first announced in June 2015 and had its first game in 2016 when Georgia Tech defeated Boston College 17-14.
For fans, it’s a chance to see their favorite team play live, while also using the game as an opportunity to travel to and explore a country they may never have visited before. For players and coaches, it’s a chance to immerse themselves in the culture of another nation.
“I am so excited for our student-athletes, coaches, staff, administration and fans for this opportunity,” Seminoles coach Mike Norvell said in a statement when the game was announced. “When this idea was first presented to me, I was immediately intrigued by this once-in-a-lifetime experience for the people in our program. With the way the 2024 season is set up with a third open date, the trip made sense from a football perspective as well. Very few people get the opportunity to travel to another continent and experience another culture, let alone take an entire team with them, so I am grateful for the hard work and support of everyone who made this game possible.”
The university and its athletic department also have their own reasons for making the trip across the Atlantic. The game is a valuable opportunity to get their name out there, especially since it is a standalone game that will kick off the 2024 season for a football-hungry audience.
“Florida State is a global brand, and this game further underscores that,” Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said in a statement in March 2023. “This game allows us to provide our student-athletes with an unparalleled athletic and cultural experience while representing Florida State on a global stage. I look forward to seeing our fans in Dublin while also gaining new fans across the Atlantic. We are grateful for all the effort that has already gone into planning this game and are excited to see what will happen over the next year and a half.”
For Georgia Tech, this is the second trip to Ireland after the team played Boston College in the aforementioned 2016 Aer Lingus Classic. According to the university’s athletic department, more than 12,000 Yellow Jackets fans traveled to Ireland this year.
REQUIRED READING: “We will rise”: The Marching Chiefs rehearse twice a day for the FSU football team’s opening game in Dublin
When is Florida State’s game at Ireland?
- Date: Saturday, August 24
- Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
The Seminoles and Yellow Jackets will face off at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
History of college football games in Ireland
Dublin – and Aviva Stadium in particular – has become a staple of the first week of college football in recent years.
Saturday’s game between Florida State and Georgia Tech will be the sixth in Dublin since 2012, five of which have been played at Aviva Stadium. There are other games to come: Iowa State and Kansas State will play there next year, and Pitt and Wisconsin will face each other two years later.
Although the last 15 years have marked a renaissance, a college football game in Ireland is nothing particularly new. There were three games in Ireland between 1988 and 1996, beginning with Boston College’s 38-24 win over Army in 1988.
Here is a look at the history of college football games in Ireland, along with the games scheduled for subsequent years:
- 1988: Boston College 38, Army 24
- 1989: No. 24 Pitt 46, Rutgers 29
- 1996: No. 19 Notre Dame 54, Navy 27
- 2012: Notre Dame 50, Navy 10
- 2014: Penn State 26, UCF 24
- 2016: Georgia Tech 17, Boston College 14
- 2022: Northwest 31, Nebraska 28
- 2023: No. 13 Notre Dame 42, Navy 3
- 2024: No. 10 Florida State vs. Georgia Tech
- 2025: Kansas State vs. Iowa State
- 2027: Pitt vs. Wisconsin
