Georgia Tech is taking the spread option to Ireland.
The school issued a news release Thursday morning announcing the game, to be played at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium to open the 2016 season on Sept. 3.
The game is scheduled to be televised on ESPN2. The official announcement was made in Dublin Thursday by Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, Dublin Mayor Christy Burke and officials from Aer Lingus (the game’s title sponsor), the Ireland tourism bureau and Boston College.
“It’s great to open the 2016 season in Ireland. This is a historic day for Georgia Tech football as we will play our first-ever international football game,” Georgia Tech athletic director Mike Bobinski said in a statement. “This is an amazing opportunity to bring college football back to Ireland and to give our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and fans a truly global experience.”
The game, originally proposed by the Gaelic Athletic Association, had been a possibility going at least back to last fall, but the GAA pulled out in April due to the increasing strength of the dollar against the Euro.
The Tech-Boston College game will be produced by a different organization and held at Aviva, not in the GAA’s Croke Park. Aviva Stadium, which holds 51,700, held a 2012 game between Navy and Notre Dame. It will be the ninth college football game played in Ireland and Tech’s first off American soil.
“I’m excited for our guys to have the opportunity to experience playing in Ireland,” coach Paul Johnson said in a statement. “Our players really enjoyed it at Navy when we played in Dublin in 1996. It’ll be something they remember for the rest of their lives.”
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