Rugby Football Union plans major music acts at Allianz Stadium

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The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has confirmed plans to bring more major concerts to the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, London, England (UK) as part of proposals set to be submitted to the Richmond Council in the coming weeks.

‘TWICKENHAM Nub News’ stated that the RFU wants permission for a phased introduction of up to 15 major non-sporting events a year, including concerts, at the Twickenham Stadium.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England (UK).

The 82,000-seat Twickenham Stadium (usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England (UK). It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The stadium is England’s national rugby union stadium and is the venue for the England national rugby union team’s home matches.

‘TWICKENHAM Nub News’ further stated that under the plans concerts would initially begin with a smaller number of lower-capacity events before increasing over time subject to the approval from the Richmond Council, the Metropolitan Police and the South Western Railway.

The governing body said the move could generate an extra £28.5 million a year for the local businesses across Richmond (town in South-West London) and Hounslow (town in West London) including pubs, restaurants, cafes, and hotels.

The stadium currently contributes around £91 million annually to the local economy through rugby fixtures including the Six Nations Championship and autumn internationals.

The Six Nations Championship is the oldest annual international rugby union competition in the world featuring the Men’s national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales.

The RFU also says the proposals could unlock more than £500 million of investment into rugby over the next five years thus helping fund grassroots sport and stadium upgrades.

The residents living near the stadium would be offered priority ticket access with 1,000 tickets for each concert made available through a dedicated pre-sale window.

A new facility fee would also be added to the concert tickets with at least £1 from every ticket going into a community fund expected to generate up to £1 million a year for the local projects.

The money would be overseen by a panel made up of the community representatives, Councilors, Council officers, and the RFU Members.

The proposals include a concert attendance cap of 75,000 on weekends, lower than the stadium’s 82,000 rugby capacity while the additional rail services at the Twickenham Station are also planned for event days.

The RFU said the concerts would mainly take place during a short summer period and largely at weekends to reduce pressure on the local transport networks.

At present, the Allianz Stadium is limited to just three major non-sporting events per year with no consecutive event days and a crowd limit of 55,000.

By comparison, the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, can host up to 54 non-sporting events annually while the 62,850-seat Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London can hold up to 30.

Explained Bill Sweeney, RFU Chief Executive, “More concerts in Twickenham will generate tens of millions of pounds each year for the local and the national economies and hundreds more jobs here in South-West London. Bringing the world’s biggest artistes here to Twickenham will also secure the £500 million of funding we want to invest into rugby over the next five years.”

The RFU has previously held exploratory talks over a possible relocation with sites in Milton Keynes and Birmingham thought to have been discussed.

The union’s ‘Plan A’, though, has always been to remain at a ground occupied by the English rugby for more than 115 years.

The insurance giants Allianz agreed to a 10-year naming rights sponsorship deal in 2024.

The RFU submitted similar plans last year but the proposals were blocked by the Council after hundreds of locals signed a petition against them.

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