From what I have read, they can't realistically sell it. Would have to be signed off by the government. Can you imagine if a UK businessman tried to buy Soldier Field in Chicago... there would be riots!

It wasn't paid for solely out of the UK tax system. Its not a government asset.

Do you really think Jascksonville will play all of their games at Wembley? The prospective buyer is a business man. Why cancel an event (CC Final) for this? To maximise income from US football, they would stage the games to coincide with TV viewing in the US = Sunday afternoon in US = evening UK.

The big difference is the Americans care about their history and traditions and although the totally rebuild it they preserved and kept the original exterior something the FA chose not to do. The difference with Soldier Field is it has always been owned by the Chicago Parks District and is all connected to the Lake Front area. Where as Wembley is just a soulless stadium with no other remains of history or the past or parkland and is owned by the FA not the local council or government.

They still wont be able to sell it without government approval, I know what you mean about the NFL schedule, but it takes 6 days to get Wembley into NFL "mode", if the FA sell it, fair enough. Selling your soul to the devil seems to be at the core of Football.

Oh I agree, but Brent Council own Wembley Way, and 2nd, 4th and 5th way. All the major approaches.

I guess as you picked Chicago as an example then the United Centre would be more accurate as it owned by the Blackhawks & Bulls organisations jointly. Fans of both clubs were devastated the old Chicago Stadium was to be demolished but knew the way forward was the United Centre. However they still designed & built the United Centre with the old Chicago Stadium in mind, as a way to try and keep some of the tradition and past. Its a fantastic Stadium/Arena too (best I've been too) which also helped the transition.

So if they sold the United Centre I guess the fans (myself as an ardent Hawks fan) initially would be pee'd off as long another stadium was available then it would soon be forgotten about.

Soldier Field is more akin to the KCOM in terms of ownership, Wembley just an asset (or mill stone) of the FA.

Problem is they claim Wembley is the national Stadium but in reality it isn't as its not government owned.

There is no reason why this will affect the Challenge Cup, as the RL only uses it one day a year.

Presumably, if sold, then Wembley will be leased as a venue by the new owner using a couple of potential commercial models to the RFL:

1. A contract for x years, to hold the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley at a cost of c£1m pa. The RFL then market the final and profit on all revenue less this lease cost, ticket contributions to clubs etc. This will be similar to the deal what the RFL have currently with the FA.

or

2. Wembley bid, along with other stadiums, to host the Challenge Cup Final each year. The RFL receive a fee upfront and then the venue markets the event keeping all revenue. This model is similar to Test Cricket, with each Test ground bidding against each other to host the Ashes Test matches. The ECB get a guaranteed revenue up front and then its up to the venues to worry about ticket sales, weather, how long the game lasts.

With the second option, the RFL could use the opportunity to allow other venues e.g. Millennium Stadium, Old Trafford, Murrayfield, a new Odsal, and New Craven Park to bid for the final, therefore driving the fee up. Presumably, the RFL would then pay the competing clubs a share of the spoils.

Depends on covenants, which I am struggling to find any detail of. IF (when?) the FA sell it then people should refuse to visit it. I am a big NFL fan, but selling for NFL is a step too farr.

There'll no doubt be something in to say any monies paid from government & lottery type funding would have to be paid back if sold within a time period or sold at all. That said its still owned by the FA and as such will be their decision the government may not even have a say apart from along the lines of 'in the national interest blah blah blah'

I don't imagine that Shahid Khan is buying it for just purely for an NFL fanchise more likely for the status of owning Wembley and he see's an opportunity to capitalise on owning it.

Thank fook we finally won there or they'd have been singing their song til the end of days

They have to pay back £127m, but selling Wembley shows the "class" of the FA Am sure the remainder will be divided equally between the relevant "good causes"...

Don't know what the fuss is. First if Khan buys it he will surely want will want to see it being used for more than a handful of NFL games. And if he doesn't want the CC final its not as if that's the end of the competition, there are other venues around the country and they managed well enough when Wembley was being rebuilt.

The 'new' Wembley Stadium may be pretty soulless and the area around it a cultural desert but it's the home of the Challenge Cup final and the competition and the sport in general will be poorer should it move to a new location. When you win a semi final you sing about going to Wembley, not about going to a final.

Hopefully a potential new owner will not mean the final has to move.

THe whole point of selling it is due to the financial cost of servicing the debt. Hence, with the sale proceed s they would pay off the debt

The FA have been totally useless if they haven't managed to service the debts since Wembley way completed and subsequent land sales were made. I was at Wembley about 8 weeks ago, the areas around it are a building site, the FA owned most of that land.