Ireland’s Large Gathering Ban & Its Impact on Notre Dame – Navy
No one has reasonably thought that Notre Dame and Navy would be playing a football game in Dublin on August 29 for weeks now with coronavirus shutting down the world of sports and casting doubt on whether or not there even are going to be games this fall. Tuesday Ireland banned all gathering of more than 5,000 people through August, casting even more doubt the Irish and Midshipmen play a game in Ireland this year.
Neither Notre Dame nor Navy made any announcements on Tuesday related to the game, but with the game scheduled for August 29 and the country banning all gatherings of more than 5,000 people through August, it’s only a matter of time until they do.
If this game ends up being played on August 29 in Dublin by some miracle, it won’t be in front fans – or at least too many of them – in the stands.
More likely, not only won’t this game be played in Dublin, it probably won’t be played in August or even September. There is some speculation that college football might not be played until winter, and the season could even start in January. No one knows at this point.
This game was set up to be a trip of a lifetime for many Notre Dame fans. The Fighting Irish kicking off their season in Dublin with ESPN College Gameday making the trip as well. In the grand scheme of things right now, though, a lot of people are losing a lot more than a vacation.
If this game is ultimately played in 2020 and it has to be played somewhere else, it is technically a Navy home game. While it’s not Dublin, Annapolis would be a heck of an alternative. Notre Dame and Navy have never played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, whose capacity is just 34,000.
We’re a long way from knowing what will happen with this game or any other in 2020, for that matter. Today was just the first domino to fall.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
If football can occur with fans – why not play this one up the road in Baltimore? This game has been played in Ravens Stadium multiple times and is a bigger and better alternative to Navy’s Division II-III level stadium. Obviously, if no fans are allowed to attend, Annapolis would be fine, Annapolis High School would be fine too I suppose.
Taking out the logistics of whether or not fans – let alone 80,000 of them – will be in the stands if/when this game is played, playing it in Annapolis as opposed to playing another game in a cookie-cutter NFL Stadium would be a pretty cool experience for those who did get to attend. Notre Dame plays in so many NFL Stadiums – which for the most part are all very similar and all just surrounded by giant parking lots – that having the game on Navy’s campus for a change would be a pretty cool experience.
I don’t disagree, but it would be a pretty cool experience for about 1,000 ND fans, maybe a few more, rather than potentially tens of thousands in Baltimore. ND plays in many NFL stadiums, but I would never in a million years call Baltimore, Green Bay, Atlanta or Pittsburgh (all stadiums ND is playing in/potentially playing in this year “cookie cutter”) and each venue has character and a nice surrounding bar/hotel/fun scene to experience. Met Life in NY/NJ and Lincoln Financial in Philly are prime “cookie cutter” places surrounded by giant parking lots within walking distance of nowhere, but I’d argue Baltimore is a great venue for many reasons – of course this is all “if” or “maybe”, so I suppose this back and forth is all in good speculative fun – I truly have no issue with playing in Annapolis and if it happens hope the few lucky ND fans that can maybe attend love it, but my little opinion isn’t worth much! Let’s just hope some ball gets played that day!