Iowa State football fans expected to 'be everywhere in Dublin' in 2025

AMES and PELLA – Jamie Pollard was driving south to Kansas City for the NCAA Wrestling Championships when his phone rang.

Within about an hour or so, the Iowa State football team was committed to playing in Ireland.

“This is an opportunity for our institution to go internationally, spread our wings and be able to show the world how Iowa State University represents,” Pollard said Thursday. “This is far greater than a football game.

“This is an amazing opportunity for all of our fans and all of our student-athletes.”

That opportunity is the Aer Lingus College Football Classic on Aug. 23, 2025, in Dublin, Ireland, against Big 12 rival Kansas State in what will be the Cyclones’ first-ever international football contest.

“I do think the one thing with college football that’s hard is you just don’t get those opportunities to go out of the country,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said. “It’s got a chance to be an incredible experience for our university, our fan base and our kids.”

The chance comes in no small part from a longstanding relationship with John Anthony, who runs Iowa State’s travel partner, Anthony Travel, and is the co-founder of Aer Lingus College Football Classic.

“Without that, we’re not here,” Anthony said of the more than decade-long relationship. “This partnership is real. We love Iowa State fans. We love your athletic director. We love your football program.

“There’s a lot of options of who can be in this game. It’s all built upon that history.”

Anthony’s close look at how Iowa State fans support their programs, from overrunning San Antonio’s Riverwalk at the 2018 Alamo Bowl or the annual takeover of Kansas City for the Big 12 basketball tournament, helped the Cyclones land the game.

“(Iowa State) has a remarkable reputation for loyally following your team wherever you go,” Anthony said. “Cyclone Nation will be everywhere in Dublin.”

More: Iowa State football will open 2025 season schedule in Dublin, Ireland against Kansas State

Officials are projecting 12,000 to 15,000 Iowa State fans making their way to Dublin.

“We just know you will because you’ve got such a great, strong following,” Anthony said, “and we know how that computes out to what will be there.”

What Iowa State fans will find on the Emerald Isle is a community that has grown to support this game with sellouts.

“The city center really becomes a stage for the student-athletes and the fans to be ambassadors for not just the game but your university as well,” Kevin Byrne, the Consulate General of Ireland (Chicago), said Thursday. “Dublin is ready to welcome the fans. It’s a weekend that we look forward to in the year, and we’ve become quite used to Dublin having marching bands in the city center, cheer squads in the city parks.

“It’s something we get pretty excited about. In Irish sports, we don’t necessarily have that gameday experience. We have great sport, but not necessarily the pageantry and the festival around it.

“That’s something the folks in Dublin and Ireland are really ready to welcome.”

Iowa State’s inclusion in the game also owes credit to Kansas State, which is surrendering a conference home game to play in Dublin.

The Cyclones had originally hoped to swap out their 2025 game at Arkansas State, but couldn’t find a partner that could make it work. With only four home conference games that season, Iowa State felt it could not give up a league game at Jack Trice Stadium to go to Dublin.

“K-State is giving up a home game,” Pollard said, “and I’m not certain if the roles were reversed we might have said that.

“So I respect that (Kansas State) coach (Chris) Klieman didn’t even hesitate.”

Iowa State also got an assist from Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, who took the Fighting Irish to Dublin to play Navy last year and gave Campbell assurances of the value of the game despite its logistical hurdles.

“The thing that he loved about it is just the experience,” Campbell said. “His response is, ‘If I could play Week 0 over there every single year, we would do it.’ He liked the fact that he got his team in a little earlier to start fall camp. He felt like the experience for the football team, the program was fantastic.

“He certainly was really bullish about it.”

The game will be something of a spectacle, but it also is a vitally critical game for both teams. The Cyclones and Wildcats hope to emerge as perennial contenders in the new Big 12.

“This is a huge game,” Campbell said, “and a game that is going to have direct implications on a lot of things and one of those things is the Big 12 race.”

Which makes the game part crucial contest and part international pageant.

“It is a business trip for (Campbell) and the team, and we treat it that way,” Anthony said. “We know that. You’ve got a game to play. It’s a (conference) game against a very important opponent.

“It’s not a business trip for the fans. Just as much as we’re making sure (the team) gets what they’re looking for, we’ll make sure fans get what they’re looking for.“

Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000 . F ollow him on X at @TravisHines21.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football fans expected to 'be everywhere in Dublin' in 2025