Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will next year add rugby league to its portfolio of sports after being confirmed as one of the host venues for the Ashes series between England and Australia.
It will mark the first rugby league Ashes series in 17 years and Tottenham’s state-of-the-art new stadium will host the third and final match on November 14 next year.
The series begins on October 31 at the University of Bolton Stadium before Leeds’ Elland Road hosts the second match on November 7.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium opened in April and as well as serving as the home of the Premier League club, it is a host venue for NFL games. Last month, the stadium staged its first NFL games as the Oakland Raiders took on the Chicago Bears before the Carolina Panthers faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said: “An Ashes Test not only sees us host one of sport’s great rivalries in England and Australia, but we’ll also have the chance to see players at the very pinnacle of rugby league with these teams having contested the most recent World Cup final in 2017.
“We are excited to add another prestigious sport to our portfolio of world-class sporting and entertainment events that our multi-use venue will stage and we look forward to welcoming rugby league fans to our home next year.”
Ralph Rimmer, chief executive of England’s Rugby Football League (RFL), added: “We hope the venues we have chosen, with a split between Lancashire, Yorkshire and London, will be popular both with regular rugby league supporters and also the broader sporting public.
“The University of Bolton Stadium and Elland Road have both staged successful rugby league events in recent years, and it’s exciting for us to be taking a first fixture to the stunning Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.”
The announcement also further cements Elland Road’s status as a multi-purpose venue. The home of Leeds United has already been pencilled in as a host venue for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup in England, while it recently staged the IBF World Featherweight Championship boxing match between local fighter Josh Warrington and Lee Selby, as well as England’s pre-FIFA World Cup friendly against Costa Rica last summer.
The University of Bolton Stadium is also a host venue for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
Image: Tottenham Hotspur
