Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II joined Michael McQuaid of Steelers Ireland for a special episode on St. Patrick’s Day. Rooney talk about his family’s ties to the island of Ireland, St Patrick’s Day in Pittsburgh and his thoughts on the steps ahead for the team on the Emerald Isle.
On the Steelers potentially playing a game in Ireland, Rooney said, “Sometime over the next few years, we’re really looking forward to playing a game over in Dublin.”
Pittsburgh hasn’t played an international game since 2013, when they played in London against the Minnesota Vikings. With the NFL’s expanded international slate starting next year, the Steelers in Ireland could happen as soon as 2025.
Former NFL insider Peter King wrote this past November that he expects Dublin to get a game at some point soon. The Steelers have expressed to the NFL that they would like to play a game in Dublin and they’ll have nine home games in 2025 and 2027.
The Steelers played in the first NFL game played in Ireland, which was a preseason game against the Chicago Bears back in 1997 at Croke Park in Dublin. The Steelers won, 30-17.
The Steelers are one of two teams, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, to hold international marketing rights in Ireland. No regular-season game has ever been played in Ireland, but the Steelers wouldn’t mind being the first.
The Rooney family has a history in Ireland that goes well beyond playing one game there 25 years ago.
“The Rooneys emigrated from Ireland back in the 1800s,” Rooney said to Sky Sports back in September. “There’s a long history, a long connection. On my mother’s side, my grandparents came over back in the 1920s, so a lot of relatives are still over in Ireland. I go back and visit them from time to time, and of course, my father wound up being the Ambassador to Ireland for a while. A lot of deep connections for us over there.”