The Concept Partnership, Ireland’s leading dedicated sponsorship specialists, has been retained by the GAA to provide sponsorship support for the Croke Park Classic, the American Colleges football spectacular.
The Concept Partnership will be working closely with Croke Park on sponsorship of the Croke Park Classic, the inaugural game of a three game series over six years. The first game takes place next August between the University of Central Florida (UCF) and Penn State. It will be UCF’s opening game and the first time either college has played outside of the United States.
The game, on 30th August, 2014, is expected to attract about 25,000 travelling American College football fans to Dublin. Capacity for the game will be 69,000 and it will be broadcast live on ESPN in the US and Europe to an estimated audience of over three million viewers.
Croke Park stadium director, Peter McKenna, said: “We are delighted to work with The Concept Partnership in accessing sponsorship for what should be a splendid occasion. The Croke Park Classic follows on the success of the Navy Versus Notre Dame in 2012 which was worth approximately €100 million to the Irish economy.”
Liam Gaskin of The Concept Partnership said: “Both College teams enjoy phenomenal support and attract wide viewership on ESPN. We would expect a television audience of over two million viewers in North America and Europe and this will provide a very cost effective means of accessing key markets which enjoy big spending power.”
“College football is extremely powerful in America. The sport is followed avidly by alumni with a passion and a loyalty that is replicated in few other sports. Penn State alone attracts over 100,000 fans to its home games at Beaver Stadium,” Gaskin added.