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Charlotte Oberserver: What does UNC football gain — or lose — by playing TCU in Ireland in 2026?

TopFrog

TopFrog

Lifelong Frog

What does UNC football gain — or lose — by playing TCU in Ireland in 2026?​

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

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CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina and TCU are headed overseas for next season’s home opener in Ireland and, despite being more than a year out, plans have been in motion since the spring.

UNC and TCU entered into a verbal agreement on April 4 to move the second game of a scheduled home-and-home from Fort Worth, Texas, to Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 29, 2026, according to documents obtained through public records requests. The teams will play at Aviva Stadium as part of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. Boston College, Georgia Tech and Florida State previously represented the ACC at the event.

Players on each team were notified of the change on April 22, before an official announcement came the following day.

UNC Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham thanked TCU at a news conference on April 23 for giving up its right to a home game to allow both teams to participate in the “incredible opportunity.”

Read the rest at https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college/article310702090.html
 
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Dr.HFroog

Active Member
So what do the Frogs get (other than $$$ and exposure perhaps) and is that worth it for giving up a home game against an ACC opponent? It seems when we have home and home series against decent out-of conference competition (Ohio State comes to mind) we end up giving that opportunity away. Gee, as a Frog Fan I can't wait to see a home game against Slippery Rock vs a bigger name opponent ! Most of us won't be going to Ireland. Count me as less than impressed with this decision.
 
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FroginBedford68

Fan Club
Dr.HFroog said:
So what do the Frogs get (other than $$$ and exposure perhaps) and is that worth it for giving up a home game against an ACC opponent? It seems when we have home and home series against decent out-of conference competition (Ohio State comes to mind) we end up giving that opportunity away. Gee, as a Frog Fan I can't wait to see a home game against Slippery Rock vs a bigger name opponent ! Most of us won't be going to Ireland. Count me as less than impressed with this decision.
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IIRC, the LSU game at Texas Stadium was also supposed to be at ACS....
 
M

Mean Purple

Active Member
honestly more worried about 2025's game. Seen some reports and UNC's off season was a good and disciplined one (from how it was presented). There are some other guys from the pros on his coaching staff. guess it all depends on buy in.
 
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froginaustin

Active Member
The thing that the Tar Heels give up is playing a season opener in Texas, in front of a hostile (possibly) game crowd.
They have to settle for a game in mild weather in front of a friendly crowd— bigger alumni base and cheaper transportation to Ireland— likely means a UNC crowd. Too bad for them.
 
Froggy Style

Froggy Style

Active Member
I wonder how many of the games that were scheduled to come to Fort Worth would have been cancelled unless TCU agreed to go to a neutral site for the big payout. Anyone really think OSU had any intentions of coming to FW?
 
East Coast

East Coast

Tier 1
Froggy Style said:
I wonder how many of the games that were scheduled to come to Fort Worth would have been cancelled unless TCU agreed to go to a neutral site for the big payout. Anyone really think OSU had any intentions of coming to FW?
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What big payout are you talking about? Assuming our contract is similar to UNC's, we get expenses covered and 300 free tickets. (plus a 5,000 ticket allotment which we may have to buy if we don't sell them all). If one of the other parties cancels, we get $2 million. If we cancel, we pay $8,000,000!! (I guess that means 2 to UNC and 6 to the event organizer).
 
BleedNPurple

BleedNPurple

Active Member
Hey, Georgia Tech had a fun game against Florida Stste in Dublin last year. One of them went home with a plane load of Guinness and the other went home with a hangover that lasted most of the season. Bring home the Guinness!
 
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FroggleRock

Active Member
TopFrog said:
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Andddd here we go again. Well, not until 2030. But it’s pretty clear that at the very least Clemson, FSU, UNC, and by extension NCST will be on their way to the SEC and Big10. Also likely are Virginia, VTech, Miami, and Duke or ND.

That’ll likely leave the Big 12 and ACC to either fully merge if all 8 go to the SEC/Big10. Or if it’s just the first 4, then it’ll be interesting. Does ESPN backfill the ACC with the highest valued Big12 teams, or does the Big12 pick the highest valued 4, 6, or 8 ACC teams?
 

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