Latest / The Irish Steelers Podcast / Reflecting on the 2025 NFL Dublin Game with NFL UK & Ireland GM Henry Hodgson

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Reflecting on the 2025 NFL Dublin Game with NFL UK & Ireland GM Henry Hodgson · The Irish Steelers Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: Irish airline air Lingus will proudly serve as the presenting
0:03
Speaker 1: partner of Steelers Ireland twenty twenty five. Airlingus's growth in
0:07
Speaker 1: North America continues in twenty twenty five as the airline
0:09
Speaker 1: prepares to fly to two new US destinations, Nashville and Indianapolis,
0:14
Speaker 1: using its new Airbus eight three twenty one xl or aircraft.
0:18
Speaker 1: This brings the number of transatlantic routes operated by the
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Speaker 1: airline from Dublin, Shannon and Manchester to twenty four. Steelers
0:25
Speaker 1: fans traveling to Ireland for the big Game can enjoy
0:27
Speaker 1: a relaxing journey when they fly with air Lingus. Air Lingus,
0:31
Speaker 1: You're very welcome.
0:40
Speaker 2: Hey, everybody, you're very welcome into the Irish Steelers podcast
0:43
Speaker 2: Michael mcquadier obviously presented by air Lingus and my God,
0:48
Speaker 2: when you talking about Erlingus. The Steelers were flying on Sunday,
0:52
Speaker 2: many people generations looking down on Cook Park, including the
0:56
Speaker 2: late Don Muoney Senior. When the Steelers came into Dublin
0:59
Speaker 2: and the feeded the Minnesota Vikings in the twenty four
1:01
Speaker 2: to twenty one matchup, Steelers improving to flinging one in
1:05
Speaker 2: the season in case you're witting for a little podcast
1:09
Speaker 2: the Monday after the game didn't happen. I think a
1:11
Speaker 2: lot of us have been riding the high over the
1:12
Speaker 2: last few days. A day that meant so much, just
1:15
Speaker 2: so many people, and you know, it really really did.
1:19
Speaker 2: I think what we'll do is we're going to save
1:21
Speaker 2: a podcast to break it down for another time. But
1:26
Speaker 2: you know, I just want to first he say thank
1:28
Speaker 2: you to everybody that went to the game to watch
1:30
Speaker 2: the game, second highest most watched game ever for the
1:33
Speaker 2: international NFL slit Wow. You know that means an awful
1:37
Speaker 2: lot to a lot of people. And I can't thank
1:40
Speaker 2: the Steelers enough. I'm speaking from my own point of
1:42
Speaker 2: view here for what they have done in the market,
1:44
Speaker 2: and I know I'm just so proud, and I know
1:46
Speaker 2: a lot of people are very very proud of what
1:47
Speaker 2: happened over the last few days. It's delighted to have
1:50
Speaker 2: a real big one. This week, we have a welcome
1:53
Speaker 2: return to NFL uken R and GM Henry Hodgson on
1:56
Speaker 2: the podcast to break down more than of the logistical
1:58
Speaker 2: steps that took to make it, maybe go inside what
2:01
Speaker 2: happened to round the game a little bit, but steters
2:03
Speaker 2: By week coming up. We're going to have a better
2:04
Speaker 2: review to talk about that game as well coming up
2:06
Speaker 2: with a few days. But for now you can listen
2:08
Speaker 2: to Henry Hodgson here on the Irish Staters podcast. Okay,
2:15
Speaker 2: obviously a historic weekend last weekend for the Staters and
2:18
Speaker 2: none of it would have been possible in Ireland or
2:20
Speaker 2: how today the man joining me on this podcast today
2:22
Speaker 2: NFL UK and Ireland GM, Henry Hodgson comes back. I
2:26
Speaker 2: think you're on maybe sugar four months ago. Henry, You're
2:29
Speaker 2: very very welcome. We again.
2:30
Speaker 3: How you doing. I am doing great? Thank you still
2:33
Speaker 3: I think, you know, energized and buzzing from our amazing
2:37
Speaker 3: weekend in Dublin. An incredible game day.
2:41
Speaker 2: And for you, first off, you know you've obviously been
2:45
Speaker 2: GM for a while now of nfl UK. What did
2:48
Speaker 2: it mean like to take the game to Dublin? Obviously
2:52
Speaker 2: you know you took it to twicken Him, which was
2:54
Speaker 2: a bit different to what you've done previously. What was
2:57
Speaker 2: it like taking into Dublin and did it sort of
3:00
Speaker 2: pasher expectations in that sense?
3:02
Speaker 3: I mean, look at this this has been the cumbination
3:06
Speaker 3: of a lot of work by a lot of people,
3:08
Speaker 3: and I appreciate you me saying that it wouldn't have
3:11
Speaker 3: happened without me, but I think it wouldn't have happened
3:13
Speaker 3: without the team here that I lead in London. And
3:19
Speaker 3: I think what was very clear from the beginning as
3:23
Speaker 3: we hit like forty games we will have played starting
3:26
Speaker 3: from this Sunday, we'll have played forty games in London.
3:28
Speaker 3: I think as much as we love and we're very
3:31
Speaker 3: lucky to be playing at Toham Hotspur Stadium and we
3:33
Speaker 3: love everything that we do here, I think there was
3:35
Speaker 3: a lot of energy that came with a new destination
3:39
Speaker 3: and Dublin as a as a city that was going
3:42
Speaker 3: to host an NFL game, And I think also a
3:45
Speaker 3: lot of energy that came understanding the importance of the
3:48
Speaker 3: game to the Rooney family and to the Steelers. And
3:52
Speaker 3: so I think it lifted our whole team who've who've
3:56
Speaker 3: been working on London games for a long time. It
3:59
Speaker 3: really lifted our team to be working on a game
4:01
Speaker 3: in Dublin and working on a game on behalf of
4:03
Speaker 3: the Steelers. And you know, I'm certainly speaking personally, but
4:06
Speaker 3: I think across the whole group as well, and so
4:11
Speaker 3: it was something that people were excited about. I think
4:14
Speaker 3: when it comes to did it meet our expectations? Yes,
4:17
Speaker 3: and blow them away, just in terms of how it
4:22
Speaker 3: all happened, how Dublin you know, really kind of came
4:27
Speaker 3: to life for the game, how the city embraced it,
4:32
Speaker 3: and how much you know, the NFL took over Dublin.
4:36
Speaker 3: I think all of us who had been working on
4:38
Speaker 3: it for that much time were incredibly excited by what
4:42
Speaker 3: actually came about.
4:46
Speaker 2: Steelers are still on defeated in irelands that are still
4:49
Speaker 2: un defeated in Dublin, and I can use that start
4:51
Speaker 2: ninety seven and twenty five. What was I like to
4:55
Speaker 2: work with the Steelers to get this over the line.
4:57
Speaker 2: I know you talked about various different stakeholders there, but
4:59
Speaker 2: especially I know, you know for people that aren't wear Henry.
5:02
Speaker 2: You've obviously worked in l A and and different places
5:04
Speaker 2: of the league, and you know coming over back homing
5:06
Speaker 2: in to actually make this happen. Talk to us a
5:09
Speaker 2: bit about working with a Ruey family, and I think
5:11
Speaker 2: we both know how much at Manton them last weekend.
5:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's an honor obviously, the Runny family,
5:18
Speaker 3: uh synonymous with the NFL. They've been part of it
5:21
Speaker 3: since day one, right, so the opportunity to work with
5:25
Speaker 3: them has been fantastic. I've been lucky enough to get
5:28
Speaker 3: to know Dan Rooney over the last few years dating
5:32
Speaker 3: your predating this, and Dan's a fantastic man and and
5:36
Speaker 3: someone that you you know, when whenever we've we've spent
5:40
Speaker 3: time together, you can feel his passion for the NFL
5:45
Speaker 3: and for for the NFL's sort of international expansion. So
5:48
Speaker 3: it's it's been great to have the opportunity to work
5:52
Speaker 3: with him and his team, particularly Reagan Bruba, who's who's
5:55
Speaker 3: part of the team, are fantastic to work with. These
6:00
Speaker 3: are good people. They kind of live obviously in the
6:04
Speaker 3: case of Dan, but across the team you know the
6:07
Speaker 3: Rooney family spirit. What that means to me, their ethos
6:11
Speaker 3: is alive in every single one of those people. And
6:15
Speaker 3: you can see and feel why the Steelers are so
6:18
Speaker 3: beloved in Pittsburgh and also in Ireland based on you know,
6:22
Speaker 3: how those people act and do things on a day
6:27
Speaker 3: to day basis. And again that was part of the
6:29
Speaker 3: reason that I think the UK and Ireland team here
6:34
Speaker 3: was so excited by working with them, because it was
6:36
Speaker 3: such a great experience and everyone felt that the drive
6:41
Speaker 3: to deliver something great on behalf of the Steelers and
6:44
Speaker 3: on behalf of the Rooney family in Ireland.
6:48
Speaker 2: It wasn't just the game last week. I had the honor,
6:51
Speaker 2: obviously of going up to Neurian the Belfast and anyone
6:53
Speaker 2: who knows me. I'm from Northern Ireland and when we
6:56
Speaker 2: talk about Dan Senior and what he'd done on the
6:58
Speaker 2: Ireland Funds, I along with my generation, we've been very,
7:02
Speaker 2: very lucky to grow up in a peaceful society and
7:04
Speaker 2: I know that a lot of what the Ireland Funds
7:06
Speaker 2: have done is really due to that. Henry, you know,
7:09
Speaker 2: how important do you think it was to see a
7:11
Speaker 2: team like the Steelers not just go in the Dublin,
7:14
Speaker 2: play a game, have activations around the city and then leave,
7:17
Speaker 2: but to actually go up north and maybe do more
7:20
Speaker 2: than what would honestly be expected of a team, especially
7:23
Speaker 2: when it's week four the season.
7:26
Speaker 3: I think it was. I think you're it's a great point.
7:27
Speaker 3: I think it was. It was an important piece of it,
7:30
Speaker 3: but it was also never anticipated to be anything other
7:33
Speaker 3: than what the Steelers were going to do. You know,
7:37
Speaker 3: as I say, the Steelers are passionate about giving back
7:39
Speaker 3: to Ireland and they have done for decades, and this
7:43
Speaker 3: was another way of doing it. But it was never
7:45
Speaker 3: going to be just them turning up and playing a
7:47
Speaker 3: game in Dublin, as you say, They wanted to bring
7:50
Speaker 3: it to life in a lot of different ways. Flag football,
7:54
Speaker 3: for Ambassador Rooney was an important piece of it. We
7:57
Speaker 3: retoed at the US Ambassador's residents in Dublin. We recreated
8:03
Speaker 3: kind of that flag football element for an event that
8:07
Speaker 3: took place there on Saturday. He wanted, obviously to as
8:11
Speaker 3: you say, go back to Newry, go back to Belfast,
8:14
Speaker 3: to that area and be able to put on a
8:16
Speaker 3: flag football clinic there and to do more things in
8:19
Speaker 3: schools in that area. And then I think that they did.
8:23
Speaker 3: You know, they He's the bar for every one of
8:25
Speaker 3: the NFL teams when it came to their activations in Dublin.
8:29
Speaker 3: You know a lot of NFL teams have done in London,
8:32
Speaker 3: Germany or all of the markets that we've played games,
8:36
Speaker 3: have shown up and put on events in those markets
8:39
Speaker 3: around games. But I don't think anything compared to what
8:43
Speaker 3: the Steelers did last Friday, Saturday Sunday with their tailgate
8:48
Speaker 3: event in Merion Square and the number of Steelers fans
8:53
Speaker 3: that came by it that wanted to be part of it,
8:55
Speaker 3: They wanted to experience it. And again, you know, I
8:57
Speaker 3: think credit to them for creating the touch point in
9:00
Speaker 3: the city over the weekend, because that's what those those
9:04
Speaker 3: fans that came in flooded Dublin from the US, from
9:08
Speaker 3: across Ireland and then from across the rest of Europe.
9:11
Speaker 3: That's what they were looking for was we want to yes,
9:14
Speaker 3: yes we want to go to a game, but we
9:15
Speaker 3: want to get around the NFL, be around the Steelers
9:19
Speaker 3: brand as much as possible. Over the twenty four to
9:22
Speaker 3: forty eight and more hours that they were in Dublin.
9:28
Speaker 2: One of the best things that I've heard, Henry, maybe
9:31
Speaker 2: not from fans that are NFL fans or maybe prospective fans,
9:35
Speaker 2: maybe people that might have not watched the game on Sunday,
9:38
Speaker 2: with certainly GA fans. A lot of people I've spoken
9:41
Speaker 2: to over the last few days were blown away by
9:44
Speaker 2: the way that Cook Park was transformed. Can you talk
9:47
Speaker 2: to us a bit maybe about your relationship with the
9:48
Speaker 2: GA and how important that has been to the NFL,
9:51
Speaker 2: but also I'm conscious we're on the Steers podcast as well,
9:54
Speaker 2: also to the Steelers organization as well.
9:56
Speaker 1: Yeah.
9:57
Speaker 3: Look, I think again, the Steelers launch then Global Market Program,
10:01
Speaker 3: the GMP presence in Ireland in May twenty twenty three,
10:05
Speaker 3: and they did it in Croke Park, and so it
10:09
Speaker 3: you know, the relationship started there with I was lucky
10:13
Speaker 3: enough to be part of that. You were there as well.
10:14
Speaker 3: I think you and I even had had a conversation
10:17
Speaker 3: that day. I don't think either of us would have
10:20
Speaker 3: probably taken the other one seriously if you'd said two
10:23
Speaker 3: in a bit years from now, the Steelers will be
10:26
Speaker 3: playing in an NFL regular season game in this venue.
10:29
Speaker 3: And so I think the fact that that did happen
10:31
Speaker 3: is testament to the vision of the Steelers and the
10:35
Speaker 3: desire to do what they wanted to do, the partnership
10:38
Speaker 3: that Croke Park and the GAA provided to help that happen,
10:44
Speaker 3: and really, you know, then the opportunity it gave the
10:48
Speaker 3: NFL the team here to deliver the game that we
10:51
Speaker 3: did and to deliver the experience that we did. And
10:55
Speaker 3: you know, this was a it's a different endeavor, right
10:58
Speaker 3: because we often will go in to Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium
11:01
Speaker 3: or later this year we're going to go to the
11:03
Speaker 3: Bonabille for Real Madrid for the Madrid game. We've played
11:07
Speaker 3: it Bayern Munich, and so these are stadiums that the
11:13
Speaker 3: overlay they're used to events, you know, on multiple events
11:19
Speaker 3: at the sort of Champions League scale. Coming in perhaps
11:24
Speaker 3: that's not necessarily croak part what they are always used
11:28
Speaker 3: to doing. But the team there facilitated everything and they
11:32
Speaker 3: were from day one willing to help us in any
11:36
Speaker 3: way we could. They certainly taught us a lot about
11:38
Speaker 3: the stadium and about the expectation of fans there, and
11:41
Speaker 3: that's an important thing. We don't just want to come
11:43
Speaker 3: in and create a kind of uniform US type experience.
11:48
Speaker 3: We wanted to resonate with the Irish audience and I
11:51
Speaker 3: think they helped us a lot there. But with the
11:54
Speaker 3: things that we needed to do, the things that are
11:55
Speaker 3: important to create the atmosphere that was just fantastic on Sunday,
12:00
Speaker 3: they helped us to do that, and so I think
12:02
Speaker 3: it was It's been a really strong partnership. And again
12:05
Speaker 3: this is not the end of anything. This is the
12:07
Speaker 3: start of new things. And I think especially the partnership
12:11
Speaker 3: with the GAA. I think we understand just how local,
12:16
Speaker 3: how you know, how grassroots that organization is, and as
12:20
Speaker 3: we look to build the Steelers brand and build the
12:22
Speaker 3: NFL in Ireland, I think they are a great partner
12:27
Speaker 3: for us going forward because they do have such deep
12:30
Speaker 3: routes into across across communities across Ireland.
12:35
Speaker 2: I can only just a test to what you've said
12:38
Speaker 2: there from my own experience of dealing with everybody and
12:41
Speaker 2: I call it the HQ, but with just in Cook
12:43
Speaker 2: Park over the last couple of years, Henry, they have
12:45
Speaker 2: been anything that's been needed they have that they have done,
12:48
Speaker 2: and props to them. Two quick ones for it before
12:51
Speaker 2: we finish up. So firstly, in terms of the Steelers
12:54
Speaker 2: element of this podcast, it really did feel like and
12:58
Speaker 2: I've there's been so many games in London where I
12:59
Speaker 2: thought I was standing in Buffalo or different cities, it
13:02
Speaker 2: really did feel like a home game. When you've seen
13:05
Speaker 2: the terrible tile, when you've seen the different activiations in
13:07
Speaker 2: the stadium, just how much of that is controlled by
13:09
Speaker 2: you guys or I'm presuming it's like a collaboration with
13:11
Speaker 2: the Steelers and making sure it gets that right.
13:13
Speaker 4: Next Yeah, we've we've i think evolved the game day
13:18
Speaker 4: experience I would say over the last two three years
13:21
Speaker 4: for exactly that reason, to try and make it feel
13:24
Speaker 4: more like a home game for the designated team, for
13:28
Speaker 4: the home team in this case, the Steelers, and bring
13:31
Speaker 4: in some of their game day traditions.
13:33
Speaker 3: Obviously Renegade is, you know, the probably the best known
13:36
Speaker 3: Steelers one, but there are a lot about the pregame
13:38
Speaker 3: Taal twelve that Jorone Betti's led, you know, lots of
13:42
Speaker 3: those type of things we want to bring in. We
13:44
Speaker 3: want to make sure it feels authentically Steelers, but we
13:47
Speaker 3: also want to make sure it feels distinctly local and
13:49
Speaker 3: obviously the anthems and the music choices and whatever. So
13:53
Speaker 3: I'd say it's kind of a great collaboration between a
13:59
Speaker 3: team that will have a very ex vision of what's
14:01
Speaker 3: important to them from a game day tradition standpoint, and
14:04
Speaker 3: then a very experienced, you know, the same team that
14:07
Speaker 3: produces the stadium for the Super Bowl, for the Draft,
14:11
Speaker 3: for you big NFL events, that we'll say, okay, we'll
14:14
Speaker 3: bring our expertise when it comes to music and obviously
14:18
Speaker 3: halftime programming and all those things. And I think that's
14:20
Speaker 3: a great marriage for us. And that's you know what
14:22
Speaker 3: we'll be doing in London this this coming weekend and
14:25
Speaker 3: the weekend after and in Berlin and Madrid as well.
14:29
Speaker 2: Awesome, ed I said two more questions. I've got a
14:32
Speaker 2: double barl one for you to finish, because I understand
14:35
Speaker 2: there's not just Steeers fans listening to this, but NFL fans.
14:38
Speaker 2: I excited you to see the continued evolution of what
14:41
Speaker 2: the Steelers do on the island of Ireland, bothrom Northern
14:43
Speaker 2: Ireland and the Republic going forward. And I have to
14:46
Speaker 2: ask you because everybody every othermedia island in Ireland has asked, year,
14:49
Speaker 2: when are you guys coming back? What's the story?
14:54
Speaker 3: I'll answer the first one first. I am I'm really
14:59
Speaker 3: excited to see it because I think in speaking to
15:01
Speaker 3: the Steelers and this again shows their dedication and desire
15:06
Speaker 3: to grow in the market. From the moment that we
15:09
Speaker 3: announced that we were playing a game, they said they
15:12
Speaker 3: saw that as a springboard for more as opposed to
15:16
Speaker 3: a means to an end, right, and so they are
15:20
Speaker 3: very clear in wanting to know this. We've already I've
15:25
Speaker 3: had conversations with them already about plans for twenty twenty six,
15:28
Speaker 3: not a game, but plans for twenty twenty six, and
15:33
Speaker 3: I think that shows that they want to in the
15:36
Speaker 3: grassroots space continue growing the kind of the community and
15:39
Speaker 3: the flag football pieces. They want to really use the
15:43
Speaker 3: interest that you know, we're still experiencing from a really
15:48
Speaker 3: successful first game in Dublin to build continue to build
15:52
Speaker 3: programs in Ireland. So there's a lot coming. I'm sure
15:57
Speaker 3: that will, especially if you're as subscriber or a listener
16:01
Speaker 3: to this podcast, you'll hear a lot about them for
16:03
Speaker 3: the first time from your mouth, But there's a lot
16:07
Speaker 3: that will come as a result of this, as a
16:10
Speaker 3: result of the interest, because you have no point in
16:12
Speaker 3: building this momentum without then taking it somewhere. And as
16:17
Speaker 3: your second question, I mean it's the same answer that
16:19
Speaker 3: I've been given for the last forty eight hours and
16:23
Speaker 3: for probably six months before that, even before we played
16:25
Speaker 3: the game, when people were asking. The answer is we all,
16:29
Speaker 3: the Steelers, the NFL, the Irish government, Dublin City Council,
16:33
Speaker 3: the GAA and Croak Park. We need to sit down
16:35
Speaker 3: together and say did this achieve our goals? And I
16:38
Speaker 3: think a lot of what we've just discussed, and a
16:41
Speaker 3: lot of the elements that have been talked about today
16:45
Speaker 3: and I have been talked about since the game would
16:48
Speaker 3: point to yes, it did. It was a successful game
16:50
Speaker 3: in a lot of ways. The Commissioner himself stated that,
16:53
Speaker 3: you know, there's a desire to return to Ireland, and
16:56
Speaker 3: typically when he says things, those things happen. So I
17:00
Speaker 3: think we will will go down that road. We'll we'll
17:03
Speaker 3: have those discussions and then we'll see where that takes us.
17:06
Speaker 3: But I don't I'm afraid I don't have any breaking
17:09
Speaker 3: news I can reveal to you today, at least to
17:13
Speaker 3: update you on that one.
17:16
Speaker 2: Look, it's awesome. I know I speak on behalf a
17:18
Speaker 2: lot of fans when I said thank you all you guys,
17:19
Speaker 2: but a lot of us have been riding on a high
17:22
Speaker 2: over the last few years. I'm definitely grateful for you
17:24
Speaker 2: to come on, Henry. I know you're extremely busy this
17:27
Speaker 2: week with a London games, and just want to wish
17:28
Speaker 2: you the best over the next few weeks and then yeah,
17:31
Speaker 2: we'll talk you soon. Thanks very much for coming up.
17:32
Speaker 3: Thank you very much. And again, look, I mean I
17:34
Speaker 3: feel the same way right we. I think we were
17:36
Speaker 3: all incredibly lucky to experience that historical event at Croak
17:41
Speaker 3: Park and in Dublin over the week. So we're feeling
17:46
Speaker 3: good here in London as we prepare for those London
17:49
Speaker 3: Games that we have all of that energy that was
17:51
Speaker 3: caused by the Steelers fans coming into too the city
17:56
Speaker 3: and making such a great event. So so thank you
17:58
Speaker 3: to you and thank you to all your listeners that
18:00
Speaker 3: were part of that.
18:02
Speaker 4: It was.
18:03
Speaker 3: It was fantastic to be to.
18:04
Speaker 2: Be a part of.
18:26
Speaker 1: Irish airline. Air Lingus will proudly serve as the presenting
18:29
Speaker 1: partner of Steelers Ireland twenty twenty five. Airlinus's growth in
18:33
Speaker 1: North America continues in twenty twenty five as the airline
18:36
Speaker 1: prepares to fly to two new US destinations, Nashville and Indianapolis,
18:40
Speaker 1: using its new Airbus eight three twenty one xl or aircraft.
18:44
Speaker 1: This brings the number of Transatlantic routes operated by the
18:47
Speaker 1: airline from Dublin, Shannon and Manchester to twenty four. Steelers
18:51
Speaker 1: fans traveling to Ireland for the Big Game can enjoy
18:53
Speaker 1: a relaxing journey when they fly with air Lingus. Air Lingus,
18:57
Speaker 1: You're very welcome