Tottenham gets green light to expand events offering

English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur has secured permission to significantly ramp up the number of major non-football events (MNFEs) it can hold at its home stadium.

Tottenham’s announcement today (Friday) follows Haringey Council yesterday approving the club’s application for planning permission to allow up to 30 MNFEs at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium per calendar year, subject to a S106 agreement.

The North London club in April made an application to Haringey Council to move from the current 16 non-football major events permitted each year, those with more than 10,000 attending, to “allow up to 30 major non-association football events (MNFE) including music concerts and other associated changes”.

In July last year, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was given the green light to increase the number of music concerts it stages. The venue was allowed to add more concerts to its schedule for 2023 after a planning application to stage more than its permitted six music events was submitted by the club in April 2023.

The application was approved by Haringey Council, meaning there was no limit on the number of concerts that could be held in 2023 within the mandated maximum 16 MNFE events. A stipulation within the permission granted by the Council was that there couldn’t be more than three consecutive days of concerts and only one week in the year where there were more than three concerts in a single week.

Haringey Council’s latest approval follows an extensive consultation carried out by the club with local residents and businesses. As part of the application, the club made a series of commitments in response to resident and business feedback.

Tottenham will maintain its community ticket scheme, ensuring local residents and community organisations continue to have the opportunity to experience events at the Stadium through the provision of complimentary tickets. A 24-hour priority ticketing window will also be introduced for concerts.

April’s application had seen Tottenham agree to certain limits. These included that there shall be no more than four consecutive MNFE events; no more than five in a week; no more than two boxing events in any calendar year; and, subject to additional permission being granted, no more than two weeks in any calendar year when there are either four consecutive days of MNFE events or five in a single week.

Since opening in 2019, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in addition to hosting the club’s home football games, has staged eight regular season NFL games to date as part of a long-term partnership through 2029-30.

It has also hosted European and domestic rugby finals, world heavyweight championship boxing and concerts by artists including Beyonce, Lady Gaga, P!NK and Travis Scott.

On a daily basis, the stadium brings visitors to the area through attractions including Stadium Tours, the Dare Skywalk and F1 DRIVE – London – the world’s first in-stadium karting experience, delivered in partnership with Formula 1.

Tottenham was boosted by its growing non-football business as revenue surged during the most recent financial year, it was revealed back in April. The Premier League club reported year-on-year revenue growth of 24% to £549.6m (€645.8m/$702.1m) during the year to June 30, 2023.

The largest segment was commercial revenues, which accounted for more than a third of the total at £227.7m. This includes sponsorship, merchandising and other revenues such as third-party events, visitor attractions and conference and events at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The segment grew by 24% year-on-year from £183.5m in 2022.

Tottenham said today: “The club looks forward to welcoming visitors from across the world to a range of exciting events at the Stadium for many more years to come and thanks Haringey Council for its support. 2027 sees Haringey become the London Borough of Culture and the stadium has been named as a host venue for UEFA Euro 2028.”

It added: “The staging of major non-football events throughout the year also creates additional recurring sources of revenue for the club to reinvest in its football activities – a key part of the club’s financial model.”