Introduction
On 14 May 2026, the Sporting Events (Hosting and Bidding) Bill was introduced into Parliament and had its first reading in the House of Lords. The Bill was introduced by Baroness Twycross on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Bill had its Second Reading in the Lords on 3 June 2026 and in the Commons on 3 September 2026, where it received strong cross-party backing. It will come into force two months after Royal Assent and is expected to be operational in sufficient time for the UEFA EURO 2028 finals tournament, which is being hosted in stadiums across England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
Rationale and overview
Until now, the UK's approach to the legal infrastructure required for major sporting events has been somewhat piecemeal. Each time any part of the UK has hosted or bid for a major tournament, Parliament has passed bespoke primary legislation to deliver the commercial and regulatory protections demanded by international governing bodies and rights holders. The London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Act 2020 are prominent examples. That model delivered results, but at a cost: each new event required a fresh legislative process covering substantially the same ground.
The Sporting Events Bill takes a different and much more enlightened approach. It creates a single, permanent framework of core protections that will sit on the statute book and can be deployed by the Secretary of State or devolved governments, in whole or in part, for any qualifying sporting event. This avoids the need for fresh primary legislation each time the UK hosts or bids for a major event.
The framework covers five core areas of regulation:
- Ticket touting: A criminal offence for the unauthorised sale, offer for sale or advertising of tickets, including online sales and sales outside the UK, regardless of the resale price.
- Advertising restrictions: Time-limited restricted zones around venues, fan zones and transport hubs, applying for periods of up to ten days before and five days after an event, within which unauthorised advertising constitutes a criminal offence. An existing advertising licence is not a defence.
- Trading restrictions: Designated restricted zones operating on similar principles to those relating to advertising restrictions, within which the unauthorised sale of goods, provision of services and certain fundraising activities will be prohibited.
- Unauthorised association (ambush marketing): A prohibition on creating any false association with a protected event, such activities being treated as an infringement of a property right, with remedies including injunctions, damages, account of profits and orders for delivery up or destruction of infringing goods.
- Transport planning: Powers to prepare and implement integrated transport plans, facilitate coordination between relevant authorities, and make temporary traffic management orders to support the effective delivery of an event.
A notable development during the Bill's passage through the House of Lords was the widening of the framework to encompass major recurring domestic sporting events of national or international importance, such as Wimbledon, the British Grand Prix, the London Marathon and the Open, which, as originally drafted, would not have qualified. The mechanism provides "opportunity, not obligation". Where a major recurring event can demonstrate a genuine need for one or more parts of the framework, it can apply for those protections, subject to ministerial agreement and parliamentary approval. The Government has confirmed it intends to preserve these Lords amendments.
Positioning the UK as a global events destination
Hosting major international sporting events has become an increasingly demanding proposition worldwide. The infrastructure investment, regulatory complexity and financial exposure involved mean that fewer countries are realistically able to compete for hosting rights. International governing bodies such as FIFA, UEFA and the IOC condition their bid processes on legally enforceable guarantees around commercial rights protection and anti-ambush marketing measures. Credible and enforceable assurances of this kind are equally important to sponsors and partners, whose investment underpins event delivery.
Recent experience underlines the challenges. The state of Victoria in Australia was originally due to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games but withdrew after significant cost overruns and funding shortfalls, leaving Glasgow to step in and deliver a successful, if scaled-down, edition at short notice. That episode highlights both the fragility of major event hosting commitments and the value of having a jurisdiction that is demonstrably ready to act.
Against that backdrop, the UK Government has set out a substantial programme of events and bids. Beyond EURO 2028, a bid has been submitted for the 2035 FIFA Women's World Cup, a 2040s Olympics in the north of England is being explored, and the Tour de France Grand Départ arrives in 2027. The Bill provides the legal infrastructure to support that ambition.
How we can help
Our sports law practice has significant and long-standing experience advising on major sporting events, including most recently the 2027 Tour de France Grand Départ and the UK and Ireland’s bid for the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup. As the Bill progresses and the new framework takes shape, we are well-placed to advise rights holders, event organisers, sponsors, investors and public bodies on the opportunities and obligations arising under the new regime.
