Notre Dame’s 2020 season opener officially has a start time. The two schools announced on Tuesday that the game will kickoff under the lights of Avila Stadium in Dublin – which means a nice mid-afternoon start time for anyone watching on the east coast. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM local in Dublin and 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT.
☘️ ➡️ ??
When we hop across the pond on August 29 to open the season against Navy… it’ll be under the lights at @AVIVAStadium.
??⏰ 2 p.m. ET
??⏰ 7 p.m. Dublin/GMT
? ESPN#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/DVUpRuWhYK— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) February 18, 2020
When Notre Dame and Navy last met in Dublin to start the 2012 season, kickoff was just after 9:00 AM on the east coast and just after 6:00 out west. That won’t be the case this time around with the two schools giving the locals – and those traveling to the Emerald Isle – a primetime showdown instead.
ESPN’s College Gameday has already announced that they will be making the trip to Ireland to be onsite for this game as well. Had the Irish and Midshipmen kicked off at 9:00 AM ET again this time around, it would have made for a bit of an awkward telecast for the worldwide leader. Perhaps it’s no coincidence then, that the game will be broadcast on ESPN as well.
A couple of weeks ago, Notre Dame announced the start time for all six true home games and their one neutral site “home” game in 2020 leaving just four games on the 2020 schedule without a start time – road games at Wake Forest, Pitt, USC, and Georgia Tech.
As of right now, Notre Dame has four games that will kick off in primetime in the local time zone now, but that number is likely to increase. Notre Dame at Georiga Tech in Mercedes Benz Stadium and the season finale are two candidates for primetime treatment. Depending on hos Pitt starts the season, that game could be another late start.
