The 2021 Aer Lingus College Football Classic has been cancelled in a €70 million blow to the Irish economy.
The University of Illinois was due to take on Nebraska at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on August 28 - but the fixture will instead be hosted in the US due to the pandemic.
Notre Dame were due to take on Navy in last year's College Football Classic but Covid-19 also put paid to those plans.
Organisers say all four Universities that were scheduled to play in the 2020 and 2021 games will eventually play in Ireland at the earliest possible opportunity.
Chairman of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic Neil Naughton said: “It is desperately disappointing that it is necessary to cancel the 2021 Aer Lingus College Football Classic but public health must take precedent.
"These games offer huge publicity potential, practical economic benefits, and a genuine expression of the close ties between Ireland and the United States.
"The organisers are working to recommence the series from 2022 and I look forward to giving our visitors the welcome Ireland is so famous for.”
Organiser Padraic O'Kane added: "The economic impact of hosting the Aer Lingus College Football Series in Ireland in the coming years will play a crucial role in Ireland’s post-Covid recovery.
"These games are ‘Much More than a game’ and also bring academic, leisure and business events that run parallel with the game itself.
"The games attract on average 25,000 American visitors to the country, staying on average seven nights and the Illinois/Nebraska game alone was set to be worth an estimated €70 million to the Irish Economy.
"Irish hoteliers will feel that considerable blow today as 105,000 bed nights booked for the game have been released across the country for the second year in a row. We are determined to start the series at the Aviva Stadium in 2022.”
