Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been an absolute boon towards the club’s bottom line. This is something that isn’t even remotely disputed — the foresight of the club’s decision to build the stadium as a multi-use facility that can host not only football matches but also NFL and rugby games, boxing bouts, concerts, and other non-sports related events has boosted the clubs’ revenue significantly.
This is part of the reason why Tottenham was one of the clubs that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic in decent financial shape, and also why Spurs are one of the most well-run clubs in the Premier League. It’s also how Spurs were able to jump up to the eighth-richest club in world football according to the Deloitte Money Rankings.
Now, according to Football.London’s Alasdair Gold, the club is planning to apply for an expanded permit with Haringey Council to nearly double the amount of non-football events held in the stadium from 16 to a whopping 30. That’s a lot of Beyonce concerts!
I kid, but Bey held FIVE sold-out concerts in London at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last May, and the ground has also hosted concerts by Lady Gaga, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Guns ‘N Roses over the past few years. It’s scheduled to host upcoming concerts by Pink and Pearl Jam in 2024. That’s not to mention the annual NFL games that take place, and the new F1-branded karting facilities in the basement. Spurs have successfully positioned the stadium as a destination for London residents and visitors for a whole host of events, not just soccer. In short, they’ve out-Wembley’d Wembley Stadium.
The proposal was made by the Tottenham Board, who state that while they don’t plan to host 30 events in a single year, they want the option to do so should the right opportunities arise.
“We should like to increase the number of events at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to support the club’s growth plans and drive greater socio-economic benefits to the local economy. We currently have permission for 16 non-football major events per year. This enables us to host concerts, rugby, boxing, and NFL with a capacity exceeding 10,000 spectators.
“We should like to increase this to 30 non-football major events per year. Whilst we do not envisage hosting 30 events each year, we believe it is important to have the flexibility to do so. In advance of submitting an application for more events, so far, we have consulted with: The club’s Business and Community Liaison Group, our main forum for local engagement. The group consists of representatives of local resident associations, local ward councillors, local businesses, and council officers.
“Also the Tottenham Traders’ Partnership, the main forum for local business engagement with representation from businesses across Tottenham High Road.”
The statement went on to issue voluntary caps on the number of boxing events per year (two), as well as restrictions on the number of consecutive events and weekly events that can happen in the stadium.
This makes a ton of sense, and will also predictably make a certain segment of the fanbase extremely mad, probably the same segment that thinks Daniel Levy has done nothing but harm to the football club. You saw some of that rise to the surface last spring when the BeyHive descended en masse to North London, and I’m sure we’ll hear similar protestations from the same people now. Now, you can certainly make a cogent argument that the new stadium and the numerous events held there are an ongoing attempt to gentrify the surrounding neighborhood and will have the effect of eventually pushing out the low- to middle-class people who live there now as the area gets redeveloped. That’s absolutely a valid criticism. But from a footballing standpoint, more non-football events means more money that can be funneled into the football operations, and hopefully making Spurs more competitive with the clubs funded by petrostates with infinitely deep pocketbooks and few scruples.
So I’m all for it! There’s no sense yet whether Haringey Council will accept the proposal or what the timeline for that decision is, but I have a hard time imagining it won’t go through eventually. Guessing Beyonce would approve as well.