U.S. Billionaire's Huge Offer For London's Wembley Stadium Will Stabilize NFL Football Team
The billionaire owner of Fulham Football Club and the Jacksonville Jaguars has lodged a bid to buy Wembley Stadium for £600M, the Evening Standard reports.
The Football Association, which owns the stadium, confirmed Shahid Khan had made a bid to buy the stadium known as the home of football, and the Standard reported that an outline deal has been agreed.
If a deal is completed, Khan would take over the running of one of world football's most famous stadiums, which is home to the England national team’s matches plus the F.A. Cup final, regular one-off NFL games and multiple concerts each year.
The 92,000-seater venue was rebuilt in 2007 in a process that saw costs spiral to £800M, and repaying that has been a millstone around the F.A.’s neck ever since. If it sold the stadium it would get a lump sum plus get to keep the roughly £40M it makes each year selling debenture tickets and corporate hospitality packages.
If Khan does buy Wembley, the Standard anticipates it would host more NFL games, and perhaps even a permanent NFL franchise.
