College football will be played at Wembley, the United Kingdom’s largest stadium, for the next three years, with an option to extend the deal to a fourth year, organizers have told The Athletic.
On Sept. 19, the Arizona State Sun Devils and Kansas Jayhawks, both of the Big 12 Conference, will become the first two college teams to play in England since 1988 in a series called the Union Jack Classic. Kansas is the home team.
Sponsorship deals and TV broadcast rights are still to be agreed for the game, which will take place in Week 3 of the college football season. Players from both colleges will be in London for a week during term time.
Arizona State reached the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff in 2024 and went 8-5 last season. Kansas is coming off back-to-back 5-7 seasons.
Tickets for September’s game start from £58 ($77), according to the website.
Next year’s matchup is yet to be decided, but future games could involve other conferences. Union Jack Classic, also the name of the private company bringing college football to England, has ambitions to host games in other European markets, too, such as Germany.
Wembley, a 90,000-seat stadium in London, has hosted NFL London games since 2007, while in 2022 the Jacksonville Jaguars signed a three-year deal to play a home game there each season. The Union Jack Classic is hoping to build on the international appeal of American football, though college football’s global presence isn’t as established as the NFL’s.
But growing the reputation of the sports teams helps grow the reputation of the universities. For Arizona State, the game made sense from a business and academic perspective, Union Jack Classic co-founder and COO Thomas Henesy said, because they are opening ASU London in the fall of 2026.
“We’re very confident (of selling out Wembley),” Henesy told The Athletic. “I will say this with humility, we’re going to have to earn every ticket buyer.”
Henesy added: “Everyone should go to an NFL game if they can. It’s the best athletes of the best athletes, but all of them came from one of these universities. College football is a little bit wider and faster because the kids are younger and the teams have a deeper bench.”
Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Sam Leavitt throws a pass against the Kansas Jayhawks at Mountain America Stadium on October 5, 2024 in Tempe, Arizona. (Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
Union Jack Classic CEO Brian Dubiski estimated a minimum of 10,000-15,000 alumni of each university could attend September’s game.
“As American football grows and the NFL continues to invest millions, if not billions abroad, and play games in Europe, we felt the timing was right (for a game in London),” Dubiski said. “We want to do the game the right way and grow the sport.”
The Republic of Ireland first hosted a college football game in 1988 and has hosted one game a year since 2022 in Dublin. Last year’s edition, the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, had a crowd of 47,000 at the Aviva Stadium for Kansas State versus Iowa State. This August, Bill Belichick’s North Carolina will face TCU at the stadium.
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has actively looked to expand to international sites, including a Mexico initiative that has since been delayed.
