Cork podcaster Colum heading off to the US to report on Super Bowl

A Cork-born podcaster with a passion since childhood for American football is heading to Las Vegas next month to report on the 58th Super Bowl which will be played in the Allegiant Stadium, also known with affection in the Nevada gambling Mecca as ‘the Death Star’.

Irish NFL Show presenter Colum Cronin, who hails from Fermoy, believes that Irish stadiums like Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh could put themselves in the frame for hosting money-spinning American Football games in the future.

Colum first got a media invite to attend the Super Bowl last year and was in Phoenix when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in a thriller.

And now he’s preparing to head out again for a premium seat in the Super Bowl, which pits the winners of the two conferences or divisions in a winner take all encounter on February 11.

This weekend sees the Kansas City Chiefs in their sixth conference final – Super Bowl semi-final – as they take on the Baltimore Ravens and in the other semi-final, the Detroit Lions face the San Francisco 49ers. While the Baltimore Ravens are the number one seed in this year’s final four, even though they have to defeat last year’s champions to get to the Superbowl, the Detroit Lions are under-dogs having never won the Superbowl before.

Helter-skelter

While the Super Bowl itself will be played on February 11, the week preceding the game is a helter-skelter seven days of press conferences, awards nights, interviews and player events as Las Vegas will be gripped by gridiron fever.

One of the hubs for the week’s events will be Radio Row.

“It’s like a giant conference room where all around the edges they will set up those studios, the lights and cameras will be there, and all the different shows and networks from the US and around the world will be broadcasting from, and then in the centre will be hundreds of tables where the mics will be set up, the radio crews will be there, the journalists will be there so players will be brought around to the different tables to be interviewed by the media there,” said Colum, who is relishing getting to meet some of his American football heroes.

After last year’s first visit to the Super Bowl, Colum was on a high until the summer such was the buzz he experienced in Phoenix. One of the highlights was Rihanna’s half time act performance and, afterwards, when she stole some headlines by announcing she was pregnant.

“This year because Taylor Swift is going out with Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs), that has meant that there’s an even bigger entertainment aspect to the league than there was previously,” said Colum, who said that while Ussher is the big name lined up as this year’s interval act, the Travis/Taylor affair has brought a much bigger audience to the game with more women tuning in than ever.

Colum thinks that the Baltimore Ravens who, in his estimation, have this year’s Most Valuable Player in Lamar Jackson, who lines out as the play-making quarter back, are the team to beat but he’s also hopeful that the Detroit Lions will advance. The Michigan team were once national football champions in the 1950s but that was before the Super Bowl so, Colum feels, that a lot of people are backing them as the underdogs.

Irish interest in American football is growing,

Colum feels, and increasing listenership for the podcast is one measure of this but another indicator is the number of Irish GAA players hoping to get offered contracts to play in the league with trials taking place this week for kickers.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh

Asked if he thinks Páirc Uí Chaoimh could eventually host American football games, Colum believes such ties would attract enormous interest as already the US College season kicks off with the Emerald Bowl in the Aviva Stadium at the end of August.

He pointed out also that games are also held in German cities such as Frankfurt and Munich and in London.

“The Pittsburgh Steelers now have a marketing agreement and they hosted a Watch Party in Croke and I don’t see any reason why Páirc Uí Chaoimh couldn’t host a game as I think they would generate massive interest,” he said, pointing out that the Leeside stadium has hosted numerous massive events.

Colum went to a Croke Park exhibition match in 1997 and that whetted his appetite for American football.

“Back in 1997 it was an exhibition match but now they play regular season games and there’s a lot more to it,” he said.

“I think these games could be a sell out in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.” Colum said that he understood that high level conversations were already underway between the GAA and the NFL and suggested that it might be something bodies like the Cork County Board should pursue.

In the meantime, he’s looking forward to Super Bowl LVIII and the trip to the Las Vegas Strip for this year’s gridiron finale.