ANNAPOLIS, Md.—ESPN's College GameDay announced this morning that it will be headed to Dublin, Ireland for the 2020 Aer Lingus College Football Classic between Navy and Notre Dame on Saturday, Aug. 29 at Aviva Stadium. It is the first time College GameDay will broadcast its show from a location outside of the United States.
 
College GameDay, the 11-time Emmy Award-winning pregame show, will air at 11 AM (ET), 4 PM in Dublin, while the game will kick at 2 PM (ET), 7 PM in Ireland on ESPN.  The network's lead commenting team of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Maria Taylor are expected to call the game.
 
This is the first game in a 12-year partnership between the American Athletic Conference and ESPN with future Navy home games against Notre Dame also scheduled to air on ESPN or ABC.
 
Navy will host College GameDay in the final regular-season weekend of 2019 (Army-Navy) and the first regular-season weekend in 2020. 
 
This will be the third time Navy and Notre Dame have played in Dublin with the two playing in 1996 at Croke Park and in 2012 at Aviva Stadium.  The 2020 game will be the first time a Navy-Notre Dame game has been televised on ABC or ESPN since 1993 when the Navy-Notre Dame game at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia was televised by ABC. The only time a Navy-Notre Dame game has been televised by ESPN was in 1984 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.
 
"We are thrilled and excited to return to Aviva Stadium in Dublin for the 94^th playing of the Navy-Notre Dame game, which is the longest continuous intersectional rivalry in the country, and having College GameDay in Dublin makes the event that much bigger," said Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk.  "In 2012, it was one of the greatest airlifts in all of sports with more than 35,000 people coming from the United States to witness the beauty of Ireland and the extravaganza that is Navy-Notre Dame, and we expect just as many people to return in 2020.  The support and enthusiasm for the game in Ireland is magnificent with the complete support from the Prime Minister and the Irish government agencies. We are looking forward to a great matchup in a country that knows no bounds for hospitality."
 
"College GameDay has built its legacy traveling from city to city, campus to campus showcasing the unmatched passion of college football fans and the pageantry surrounding the game," said ESPN Senior Vice President of Production Lee Fitting. "The Notre Dame-Navy rivalry serves as the perfect backdrop for College GameDay's inaugural international appearance. We look forward to giving the great fans of Ireland and the thousands of Americans traveling to Dublin an unforgettable experience."
 
 "We are delighted to welcome ESPN's College GameDay to Dublin in 2020. With firm Irish roots, we are proud to connect Ireland to North America, flying direct to 14 North American destinations. We are gearing up for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic 2020 which will see Notre Dame vs. Navy on Irish soil and are pleased that, thanks to ESPN, fans everywhere can get a slice of the action live from Dublin, said Aer Lingus CEO Sean Doyle. "Aer Lingus' ambition is centered on becoming the leading value carrier across the Atlantic and this cooperation with ESPN will provide us with an exciting platform to communicate our message and bring Aer Lingus into millions of homes right across the U.S."
 
To date, College GameDay has staged 372 road shows from 86 cities within the United States. Notre Dame was the first institution to host the live event on November 13, 1993, and its fans welcomed it with such fervor, a college football tradition was born. Now, College GameDay has traveled to 72 different colleges and universities, with its undetermined weekly destination becoming one of the sport's key storylines each week.   College GameDay traditionally concludes its regular-season tour by televising from the annual Army-Navy Game presented by USAA.
 
The game will be organized by Irish American Events Ltd. which is a joint venture between Corporate.ie and Anthony Travel, who have been involved in college football games in Ireland previously.
 
The other key partners who will drive the game in both Ireland and America are Failte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and Dublin City Council.
 
The Aer Lingus College Football Series will have a very strong Irish-American influence. Not only will there be the usual college football fanfare with lots of fun events celebrating the red, white and blue including marching bands, cheerleaders and tailgating parties, but there will also be a great celebration of the close Irish-American links that are so highly valued. The teams will compete each year for the Keough-Naughton College Football Trophy, acknowledging the contribution to Irish-American society of Don Keough and Martin Naughton. 
 
Ticket and travel information can be accessed at https://www.navy2ireland.com/