Georgia Tech is slated to open the '16 football season against Boston College in Dublin, Ireland, and the school will "likely come out ahead financially compared to the expenses the athletic department would have incurred" had it played the game at BC's Alumni Stadium, according to Ken Sugiura of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. The contract between GT and Irish American Events Limited, which is putting on the game, states "all related direct costs associated with the game ... for Georgia Tech will be paid directly by IAEL." That includes a charter flight, "up to 121 rooms and suite and a minimum four-star hotel," meals, bus transportation and police escorts, among other items. Had the game stayed at Chestnut Hill, GT would have been responsible for those costs, "which might run to about $175,000" (AJC.com, 6/30). Dallas-based Anthony Travel also will be involved in management of the event as the official travel partner. Company President & CEO John Anthony said of expectations for the event, "It's hard to say anything could be bigger than that Notre Dame-Navy game was (in '12), just because of the volume of people. Thirty-five thousand went over, as a company we were responsible for over 10,000 of those people. ... For this one, we don't expect the same numbers, per se, but the level of involvement we have -- because we've contracted with Ticketmaster, we've contracted with a PR firm, we've contracted with the stadium -- is bigger than ever, just because of how deep we are to put on a game. ... We expect to sell it out, we sure hope to sell it out" (Tyler Everett, SBD Global).
