London’s Big Sports Play: From NFL Games to Olympic Dreams

London, already a major global market, has big sports dreams.

City officials released a report Monday, finding that six major sporting events in 2024, including NFL and MLB games, delivered $310 million in direct economic impact last year. While economic impact reports can often be specious, the new findings further signaled London’s intent to forge a meaningful part of its future through large-scale sports.

That strategy will take another major step with a developing bid to host the 2040 Summer Olympics, an event just 28 years after London hosted the 2012 Games. That bid will seek to leverage much of the infrastructure developed for those prior Olympics. London also hosted in 1908 and 1948, and is seeking to surpass both Los Angeles and Paris as the first four-time host city.

“London is the sporting capital of the world, and I am proud that we have such a strong record of staging the biggest and best international events in our great city,” said London Mayor Sadiq Khan. 

The 2028 Summer Olympics will be in Los Angeles, while the 2032 event is set for Brisbane, Australia. The 2036 Games have not yet been determined, but likely bidders include India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Turkey. 

Formidable Sports Roster

The latest sports findings from London focused on six major events held last year:

• MLB’s two-game London Series between the Mets and Phillies
• Two separate NFL games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 
• The latest iteration of the Jaguars’ part-time residency at Wembley Stadium
• The UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund 
• The Formula E London E-Prix at ExCeL London
• The London Athletics Meet at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Collectively, those competitions drew 480,000 attending fans and a global television audience of 202 million. Both numbers would be easily dwarfed should the 2040 Olympics bid prevail. In the meantime, the NFL, Formula E, and London Athletics events are all coming back for return engagements in 2025. London will also host the UEFA 2028 Euro tournament and has a strong bid in place for the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup. 

The NFL also was found to have generated more than $800 million in total spectator spending in the city since starting its London games in 2007.

“These events shine a global spotlight on the capital and inspire young Londoners to get involved in grassroots sport, and I am focused on bringing even more to our city,” Khan said.