- Twickenham missed out on the chance to host Beyonce concerts this summer
- RFU CEO Bill Sweeney has now claimed England could leave Twickenham
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney has threatened to find a new home for England’s rugby team to play after Twickenham missed out on hosting Beyonce concerts this summer.
The US popstar is returning to the UK in June, and Twickenham – which is now known as the Allianz Stadium following a £130m naming rights deal last year – had hoped to be the venue of choice for her gigs.
However, licence restrictions imposed by the local council means that Twickenham is only currently allowed to host three non-rugby events per year with crowd capacity limited to 55,000.
The RFU want to increase this to 15 events and a capacity of 82,000, but the current restrictions led to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium getting the nod to host Beyonce’s six nights in England.
Sweeney has now suggested that the national team could move to Milton Keynes or build a new stadium in Birmingham if the RFU’s application to change Twickenham’s event licence is refused.
‘There are plenty of places that would like to have us. Birmingham, Milton Keynes would love to have us there,” Sweeney told the Business of Sport podcast.
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney has claimed England could look to leave Twickenham
He has suggested the national could move to Milton Keynes or Birmingham
His comments come after Twickenham missed out on hosting Beyonce concerts due to licence restrictions
‘Part of the renovation from 2027 means we are in discussions with Richmond borough council to stage more non-rugby events. For us it is three [events] and we are only allowed one on a Friday.
‘We have had The Rolling Stones. We could have had Beyoncé but she wanted three nights and we are only allowed two nights consecutively.
‘We are saying: “If we are going to invest £600million into the Allianz — and we have a study which shows how much economic value it contributes to the borough — you are going to have to work with us in terms of an increase in the number of events we can stage in order to monetise the stadium.”‘
Asked whether relocating was a genuine possibility, Sweeney added: ‘It would be a tough call for us. It would be very difficult. I don’t know how we would justify the investment in the stadium if we can’t get the increase in the event licences.’
The RFU have previously considered selling Twickenham and buying a 50 per cent share in Wembley Stadium or moving their headquarters to the Midlands, but they opted again this in favour of modernising Twickenham in 2027.
But Sweeney has now indicated that there could be a rethink if they fail to make a breakthrough in talks with Richmond borough council.
Leaving Twickenham would be a controversial move in the eyes of many England rugby fans, and could heap more pressure on Sweeney.
