Sporting Events Bill [HL]

Baroness Shah Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 3rd June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Shah (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak on the Bill and to have listened to so many great contributions from noble Lords, including people I consider sporting legends.

I represent and live in Wembley—the home of football and, more recently, rugby, American football and the Olympics. It is a place that has, for over a century, sat at the intersection of sport, culture and community, which in that time has taught us everything we need to know about why legislation such as this matters and why getting it right is so important for the future of major sporting events in this country.

I begin with a confession. When you mention that you represent Wembley or Brent, people assume you spend your time watching England triumph gloriously in the stadium. The reality is somewhat different: you spend time explaining to visitors that the Jubilee line is, in fact, faster than driving and that, no, they cannot park outside your house. The chaos that ensues—the wonderful, maddening, economically significant chaos—is exactly what the Bill is designed to protect and nurture.

Before I turn to the economics and the legislation, I hope the House will permit me a moment of sentiment, because Wembley is not merely a stadium. It is a chapter of our national story, one that belongs proudly to the London Borough of Brent. It is precisely because of what Wembley represents to this country, to sport and to culture that the Bill matters so much. I am sure that noble Lords will have their own Wembley memories, including seeing Bolton elevated to the next league.

In Brent, we know what we have. We hold this treasure with enormous pride. Wembley is not just our local stadium; it is a global icon that happens to be in our neighbourhood. For a venue such as Wembley to continue attracting the events that have made these moments possible, the UK needs to be able to offer international governing bodies something that no amount of good will alone can provide. Legal certainty, commercial protection and a framework that works are what the Bill will deliver. That is why it matters.

In 2018, the Football Association commissioned Deloitte Sports Business Group to assess the economic impact of Wembley Stadium events. Its findings, presented to us at Brent Council, showed that the 58 events staged during the 2017-18 season resulted in a total economic impact to England of over £615 million and a direct economic impact to the borough itself of £150 million. These events supported over 1,800 full-time equivalent jobs in Brent and over 6,000 across England as a whole.

Multiply that across every major international event that the UK could host, and consider what is at stake if we fail to make ourselves competitive. Every event that goes to another country rather than ours is not just a missed occasion; it is missed jobs, investment and opportunities for communities like the one I call home. The Bill directly addresses that risk. For the first time, we will be able to say to FIFA, UEFA, the IOC and many others, “Come here. The framework is already in place. We are ready”.

In Brent, we have always been clear-eyed about this. We value the treasure that Wembley represents and, precisely because we value it, we recognise the responsibilities that come with it. A Bill that protects the commercial interests of major events must also speak to the communities that host them. I am glad that the provisions today create the foundations for exactly that. As a council, we understood from early on that Wembley’s importance demanded not just celebration but active stewardship. Brent developed deliberate, place-specific policy to manage the reality of hosting a global venue in the heart of a residential borough, and central to that was the establishment of an event day zone. The clean zone provisions in the Bill echo that approach at a national level, and that is to be welcomed.

The Bill creates important new tools, but tools require people to wield them. I agree with my noble friend Lady Paul that the provisions on clean zones, trading restrictions and ticketing enforcement all depend on local authorities having the capacity, powers and funding to act.

The benefits of Wembley are counted not only in pounds and jobs but in children lacing up their boots on a Saturday morning because they watched something extraordinary the night before. This is where the Bill’s importance extends beyond commerce, because it is events like these that protect the very events that inspire the next generation. Every major event at Wembley has a ripple effect through grass-roots football and sport in our borough: participation surges, girls’ teams form and schools request coaches. The fundamental aim of Wembley’s regeneration during my tenure as regeneration lead, and continuing today, was to deliver jobs, housing and community schemes, making Wembley a fantastic place to live and work for all its residents and visitors. That vision works only if the stadium and the community genuinely face each other: if outreach is real, if local young people see themselves in the sport that surrounds them, and if the high street on event days is a place of opportunity rather than disorder. In Brent, we worked hard to make that the case. The increased trade on local high streets on event days, when managed well, is meaningful for small businesses.

In July 2022, 87,000 people packed into Wembley to watch England’s Lionesses beat Germany in the Women’s Euros final. The noise that night could, I am reliably informed, be heard in Harrow, and possibly Milton Keynes—maybe even coming from our own household. In that moment they did not just win a trophy but transformed a sport, and the momentum continues to build, in participation, attendance and aspiration. Young girls who had never been offered a football now play in organised leagues across Brent and beyond.

The Women’s Euro 2022 final at Wembley was, by design, an accessible event. According to UEFA’s official ticketing announcement, the maximum face value for a final ticket was £50, with over half a million tickets across the tournament priced at £25 or less, and a family of four was able to attend for as little as £30. That was a deliberate, principled decision to make the Lionesses’ greatest moment reachable for ordinary families.

The UK has an extraordinary offer to make the world of sport: world-class venues, passionate fans, unmatched heritage, and communities such as the one I represented that have demonstrated for over a century what it means to host events of global significance with pride and professionalism. The Bill gives us the legal framework to match that offer. Wembley is many things. It is a global icon and it is a community asset. It is, on certain Saturdays, an extremely good reason to avoid the North Circular. Above all, across 100 years, in its original form and its current one, it is proof of what major sporting events can do for a place—economically, socially, culturally and in shaping aspirations. The Bill creates the framework that Wembley and every future host community deserve. It will help ensure that events of that magnitude keep coming to the UK, and that when they do they are protected and properly managed, and their benefits are truly shared.

For those reasons, and with the experience of Wembley behind me, I invite noble Lords to come and visit Wembley—not just during the championships, because Wembley’s regeneration is fantastic—and I commend the Bill to the House wholeheartedly.