RFL relaxed about potential Wembley Stadium sale

The RFL will not be party to any discussions regarding the potential sale of Wembley Stadium, but are relaxed about its future.

Reports on Thursday revealed that the owner of Fulham Football Club and Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team, Shahid Khan, had made an offer thought to be worth around £900m to buy Wembley Stadium.

An RFL spokesperson said: “The Ladbrokes Challenge Cup has a long association with Wembley Stadium and whoever owns the stadium, we would hope to continue to work closely with them to deliver one of the showpiece sporting events in the British sporting calendar.”

The governing body currently has a multi-year deal to hold the final at Wembley, but it could be broken by the RFL if they thought better to move it.

Last year, then Super League chief executive Roger Draper suggested that the RFL could look to move the Challenge Cup final away from Wembley to safeguard the event.

The first Challenge Cup final to be held at Wembley saw Wigan beat Dewsbury 13-2 in 1929, and it has been its traditional home virtually ever since.

It spent seven years away from Wembley during its re-development before returning in 2007 when St Helens beat Catalans 30-8.

The money received by the Football Association from the sale of Wembley would enable a major investment into football at grassroots level.

A total of 18 NFL games have been played at Wembley, with two more scheduled for this year, and there has yet been no mention of the impact on sports other than football and NFL played at the stadium.

Rugby league has been staged at Wembley on 15 occasions since it was re-opened 11 years ago, including double header international matches during the 2011 Four Nations and 2013 World Cup.