Over 27,000 US tourists in Dublin as college football returns

[Applause] pom poms pep rallies and tailgating parties Dublin is once again playing host to the opening game of the US college football season Dame Street a devoted fan zone for the 27,000 traveling supporters it's uh like a once in a-lifetime experience to come here to Ireland to see our favorite team play couldn't miss it when you hear that Georgia Tech's playing in Ireland you're like okay well you want to see that it's great everyone's been welcoming and I love the culture I've had a great time this your first time in Europe it is it is and how are you finding it it's delicious y'all have done a beautiful job with the place this is the 10th year that the Irish Capital has hosted this key American football piture last year it generated €180 million euro for the Irish economy and it was the largest ever movement of American citizens outside the states for a single sporting event they're in for seven nights they're in all around the country three nights in Dublin four nights away uh and as we can see most of them have coming out of the United States for the first time with the teams up the 80% of the team don't have a passport when we start the journey with them but this is more than just a game with plenty of business happening on the margins we've had the chance in the last week to meet with politicians and business leaders who've all traveled here anchored around the game and in those meetings we talked about Ireland being a great place for us FDI but also Ireland being a springboard for Irish companies to propel themselves into the US market there's Irish interest to with K native David Shanahan in the Georgia Tech Squad more than 3 and a half million viewers in the US watched this game on ESPN and for the first time it was shown on Irish freeo a television on TG kaher showing the growing interest in American football here Samantha lii RTE News Dublin