More than 24,000 American football fans have travelled to Dublin for the opening game of the US College football season.
Since 2012, the capital has regularly played host to the major US sporting fixture, which has a television audience of around 4.5 million on the American sports network ESPN.
The game between the Kansas State 'Wildcats' and the Iowa State ‘Cyclones' kicked off at 5pm at the Aviva Stadium.
It is known as 'Farmageddon' because of the rivalry between the two predominately rural states.
Cheerleaders and brass bands have been seen performing on the streets of the capital after both teams taking part in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic travelled to Ireland earlier this week with a 125 member cheer squad and bands.
Pep rallies and tailgating parties have also been taking place across Dublin as part of the build up to the event which is estimated to be worth €130 million to the Irish economy.
Rolling road closures took place this afternoon as the two States cheerleading squads and brass bands marched from the RDS to the Aviva ahead of the game, while the nearby footpaths were bulging with supporters dressed in orange and purple as they made their way to the stadium
Kevin Murphy, who has family connection in Galway, travelled from Kansas with his young children for the event.
"I don't think this will ever happen again. When K-State's going to travel here and to bring my kids with me to see a once in a lifetime thing, this couldn't be a better situation," he said.
"Ireland is known for their hospitality. They're the best in the world when it comes to any of this stuff. So we love travelling here. We love meeting the Irish."
Patrick Gannon, from Chicago says he intends to travel around Ireland after coming here to support Iowa State.
"I was born on St Patrick's Day. I come to Ireland a couple times a year, spending a great weekend in Dublin. I'm gonna go golfing down in Kinsale at Old Head on Monday and pray for good weather.
"We love it here, you guys are the most welcoming country in the world."
James Reyes, from Texas, was wearing scarves for both teams, but predicted a win for Kansas this evening.
"I'm supporting both teams. I just want a good game and a high scoring game," he said.
"I've always wanted to visit Ireland, and every time I see the game, it's happened two or three times before. I'm just so like, envious of the people there. And I was like, you know what? I'm going to go."
Greg Lucky, from Minnesota, was taking in the game while celebrating a significant milestone.
"My wife and I are celebrating our 10-year anniversary. We were here 10 years ago on our honeymoon.
"Now, we're back to enjoy the Iowa State football game, and we're going to tour Ireland. And it is fantastic to be here for a football game. It is incredible, and the people are awesome."
Laura Ricks travelled here from Geri, Iowa with a group of agriculture producers from her State.
"We're pork producers from northeast Iowa. We raise corn as well. My husband and I are both lifelong Iowa State fans, our children all attended Iowa State as well. It's just been fun being here, no language barriers and it's been great with all these people"
John Campbell from Maryland, who was wearing a half open shorts dungarees decorated with the American flag, said he had decided to travel to the game when he heard on Instagram that his friends who study in Kansas State were attending.
Asked what he enjoyed most he said: "The Guinness and the food. We had a spice bag yesterday, that was incredible."
Conor Brophy, Managing Director of Strategy and Communications with Teneo, who also hosts an NFL podcast, says the game presents opportunities both politically and economically in two states that are not traditionally Irish-American.
"There's a lot of cities around the world would kill to have this game. It's massive focus and attention for all sports fans in the US.
"It puts Dublin and it puts Ireland on the map in a massive way, from a tourism point of view, from an investment point of view, and from a sporting point of view," he said.
"It's quite a coup to have this game here. We have Kansas and Iowa and 22,000 plus fans traveling from those relatively small midwest states.
"It allows the likes of Fáilte Ireland, the IDA and Tourism Ireland inroads into the decision makers, the businesses and the political decision makers in those states that could be the key to unlocking investment and that bring lots of people here," he added.
Fixture a boost to Irish tourism sector
The fixture will be a welcome boost to the tourist sector as data from the Central Statistics Office shows that the number of inbound visitors to Ireland has been down every month of the year so far, up to and including the important month of June.
Tourism Ireland has partnered with ESPN to showcase Ireland during that broadcast - with video segments about the country and on-screen prompts for people to plan a visit.
Alice Mansergh, CEO of Tourism Ireland said the event is valuable from a tourism perspective.
"What we know from the college football is, once our US visitors, cross the Atlantic, they will usually stay for seven days and travel around so you've got businesses right around the regions seeing the benefits," she said.
Next month Ireland plays host to its first ever regular NFL fixture when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Minnesota Vikings at Croke Park on Sunday, 28 September.
