Big event · September 19, 2026
Wembley Stadium · London, England
Kansas and Arizona State play the first college football game ever staged at Wembley Stadium on September 19, 2026, kicking off at 5 p.m. London time; London's huge hotel market absorbs 90,000-seat events easily, so the play is location on the right train lines, not panic booking.
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Arizona State beat Kansas 24-17 at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, September 19, 2026, in front of an announced 46,523, the first college football game ever played in England. The organisers hold a three-year Wembley deal with an option for a fourth. As of September 22, no 2027 date or teams have been announced, so there is nothing to book yet.
Live rates and availability plotted around Wembley Stadium.
Top 3 rooms · our picks, never paid placements
Premium
$$$
Closest full-service hotel to the arch, roughly 650 feet from the stadium, with Boxpark and the Olympic Way food yards a couple of minutes away. Wembley Park is the one pocket of London that adds a game-night premium and minimum-stay rules, so book it early or take the train in.
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Fan pick
$$
An eight-minute walk to the gates, 8.7 across more than three thousand reviews, and clearly cheaper than the Hilton beside it. Wembley Park goes quiet outside event nights, which is the trade. The Jubilee and Metropolitan lines put central London about 20 minutes away when you want it.
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Budget
$
Cheapest real room within sight of the arch, and some of them look straight at the stadium. Rooms are small and plain the way ibis rooms always are. The rate will jump for game night, because this small cluster is the only part of London that notices a Wembley event at all.
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Arizona State beat Kansas 24-17 at Wembley on Saturday, September 19, and the first Union Jack Classic is in the books. The announced crowd was 46,523. Until last week this page was a booking guide for that weekend. As of September 22 it is the record of what happened, what the crowd number tells you about London hotels, and the parts of the playbook that still hold for the next time college football comes to Wembley.
Whenever that is. The organisers have a three-year deal with Wembley and an option on a fourth, and the Big 12 commissioner flew home saying he wants more. Nobody has named a date or a pair of teams. More on that below, with sources.
Kickoff came a few minutes after 5 p.m. London time, noon Eastern, on FS1, with Connor Onion, Robert Griffin III and Alexa Landestoy on the call. FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff did its pregame show from a set at Samovar Square in Wembley Park, the first time the show had gone abroad. Arizona State arrived 1-1 after a 48-20 loss at Texas A&M the week before. Kansas was also 1-1, having lost 38-21 to Missouri at home on September 11.
It was a special-teams game and Arizona State won all of it. Carson Smith’s 39-yard field goal was the only first-quarter score. A 17-yard Kansas punt late in the half set up the Sun Devils’ first touchdown. Then Jaren Hamilton took the second-half kickoff 100 yards, turning 10-7 into 17-7, and told reporters afterwards he had called it before the kick. Hyrum Vaeono returned a fumble 77 yards to the 1. Nick McLarty punted nine times for 382 yards and pinned Kansas at its own 1 with five minutes left.
Kansas outgained Arizona State 414 yards to 228 and lost, because it turned the ball over three times, two fumbles and an interception, and Arizona State never gave it back once. Kenny Dillingham’s line after: “Give me losing the stats and winning the game 100 times out of 100.” Arizona State left 2-1 and 1-0 in the Big 12. Kansas fell to 1-2 and 0-1.
Wembley’s own event notice ran the day like this: a tailgate area at Arena Square open from 10 a.m. (bar closed at 3:30, area closed at 4), the Big Noon set at Samovar Square with activities from 1:30 and the broadcast from 3 to 4:15, hospitality doors at 2, general admission doors at 3. That is the standard Wembley pattern for a 5 p.m. kick, and worth writing down because the pre-game version of this page had gates listed as TBC for weeks.
Both fanbases ran their own thing. Arizona State’s alumni association sold out 2,000 tickets for a tailgate at Boxpark Wembley, from 1 p.m., meal and four drinks and a scarf included, band playing the fight song and Sparky leading the chants. Kansas Alumni held its official tailgate at the Hilton London Wembley on Lakeside Way, 1 to 4 p.m., also sold out, buffet and three drink tickets with the Marching Jayhawks in the room. The night before, KU had a pep rally at the Adidas flagship on Oxford Street and a party in the Leake Street tunnels by Waterloo. After the game Boxpark ran a fanpark until 11 p.m. for match-ticket holders only, no re-entry.
The crowd was not the crowd you get in Lawrence or Tempe. The Kansas City Star’s Taylor Eldridge walked Olympic Way before kickoff and counted Chiefs, Packers, Jaguars, Eagles, Cowboys and Patriots jerseys mixed in with the Kansas blue and Arizona State maroon. Brett Yormark said ticket buyers came from 35 countries. The BBC’s estimate, as reported by the Star, put about 15,000 Americans in the building, roughly 9,000 of them Arizona State and 6,000 Kansas. The Guardian’s match report called it noisy and energetic, with the bands filling the quiet stretches, and every Kansas quote I can find agrees. Isaiah Marshall, the KU quarterback: “As soon as we walked on the field, it was great.”
Two details for anyone planning the next one. The teams did not stay in Wembley; the AP reported both were in hotels near Richmond, out in southwest London, and the organisers took the players up the Thames on boats on the Thursday. And nothing I can find reported trouble on the tube or Chiltern afterwards, which for a 46,000 crowd at a stadium built for 90,000 is about what you would expect.
Organisers had said they hoped for around 60,000. They got 46,523, which Yormark announced to the press at halftime, and the upper tier stayed empty. Photos of that went around social media before the game ended. The AP reported the mechanics: upper-tier seats had not sold, and local ticket holders up there were emailed two weeks out and moved down into the lower bowl. Brian Dubiski, the Union Jack Classic’s CEO, told the AP that anything over 40,000 to 50,000 is a viable business model. So by the organisers’ own definition it cleared the bar, and by their own target it fell about 13,500 short.
Here is the hotel read, including the bit this page got wrong over the summer. Fifteen thousand visiting Americans do not move London. Revenue managers, the people who set nightly rates, price against a comp set and the citywide calendar, and the citywide calendar that weekend was London Fashion Week (September 17 to 21) on top of the London Design Festival (September 12 to 20). Those were the compression nights, the ones where discounted rate classes get closed out and minimum-stay rules go on, and they were priced months before the Big 12 announced anything. A fan who booked Mayfair or Shoreditch for this game paid a Fashion Week rate for a football weekend.
The football itself was a Wembley Park problem. That pocket is small, the Hilton London Wembley was hosting an official tailgate, and Spiritbox played the OVO Arena next door the same night, doors at 6 and curfew at 11. Everywhere else, 15,000 fans spread across a city this size is not a demand event a revenue manager would even bother to fence for. That is the lesson to carry to the next edition: the date’s position on London’s own calendar matters more than the game does.
I am not going to reconstruct a nightly rate for a weekend that has already passed.
Here is everything I could verify as of September 22.
The Guardian’s Donald McRae, interviewing Dubiski before the game, wrote that Wembley and Dubiski’s company have a three-year deal with the option of a fourth if the games are the expected success. The Associated Press reported the same terms, a three-year contract for an annual game with a fourth-year option, and added that Dubiski was in talks on airline and hospitality partnerships and might not have a title sponsor until next year. Front Office Sports, writing the week of the game, said no teams have been finalised for 2027. Yormark, at halftime: “It’s exceeded my expectations. From the crowd to the logistics to how the local community has embraced us, it’s been fantastic.” He followed it with “we want more.”
The Union Jack Classic’s own site, checked September 22, still lists only the 2026 game. No date, no teams, no on-sale.
For timing, the 2026 game was announced on October 1, 2025, about eleven and a half months out. If the organisers keep that rhythm you would hear about 2027 this autumn. If they want a title sponsor signed first, it could be later. Either way there is nothing to book, and any site selling a 2027 London college football package today is selling something that does not exist yet.
When it does drop: take a refundable room that day, on the lines below, and sort the ticket second. The 2026 game never sold out, and tickets were still on general sale the week of the game.
Think in train lines, not miles. Two Underground lines and one commuter rail route serve the stadium, and every decision about where you sleep follows from that.
Marylebone is the best address for any Wembley event, full stop. Chiltern puts you at Wembley Stadium station in under 10 minutes. It is also the answer everyone works out, so when a matchup is announced, book it that day.
The Metropolitan line north of Baker Street is the value play. Baker Street is two stops from Wembley Park. The corridor through Finchley Road and out past Wembley Park holds ordinary hotels that no fashion buyer is fighting you for, 20 minutes from the stadium and 10 from Regent’s Park.
The Jubilee at Kilburn, Willesden Green and West Hampstead is the budget version that still works: direct trains to Wembley Park, direct trains into town, outer-London rates.
Wembley Park is the zero-transit option and the smallest pool. Anything on the stadium or arena calendar fills it, and it will be the first place that adds minimum-stay rules. Worth checking early. Not worth waiting on.
South of the river and east is the mistake. A nice room in Bermondsey or Bethnal Green at a fair price is a cross-town commute each way on a network full of other people making the same trip.
For four or more, a flat is the better deal in this market, and it is a different inventory pool. Fashion Week fills hotel rooms, not three-bedroom flats in St John’s Wood, so rental availability held up better than hotel availability for the 2026 weekend. The same line test applies: Maida Vale, St John’s Wood, Kilburn and anywhere on the Jubilee is a real base. The catch is cancellation. London hosts run firm policies, and the common moderate policy stops refunding five days before check-in, so lock flights first and book the flat the same day. Vrbo and Airbnb both carry deep London supply. Compare all-in totals with the cleaning fee included, because on a two-night stay that fee does real damage to the per-night maths.
Chiltern Railways from Marylebone. Under 10 minutes to Wembley Stadium station, about a four-minute walk from the turnstiles. Chiltern runs an enhanced timetable on Wembley event days with extra trains and extra Wembley Stadium stops, and sorts the post-event crowd into colour-coded queues by destination; blue is Marylebone only. Contactless and Oyster pay-as-you-go both work. Chiltern closes stretches of this line for weekend engineering often enough that you check the journey planner the morning of.
Wembley Park, Jubilee and Metropolitan lines. The main artery. Up the station steps and straight down Olympic Way with the arch in front of you for ten minutes. On event days it is one-way crowd flow in and a queuing system out that looks alarming and moves quickly.
Wembley Central, Bakerloo line and Overground. A 15-to-20 minute walk and the release valve when Wembley Park backs up.
Do not drive. Event-day parking at Wembley must be booked in advance and unbooked cars are turned away, the surrounding streets sit inside an event-day parking zone, and the post-event road closures make a car the slowest way out. Transport for London typically publishes weekend engineering works about a week ahead; check Jubilee and Metropolitan status the week of and again on the morning.
Phoenix is easy: British Airways has flown Phoenix to Heathrow nonstop since 1996 and American flies it too, about 14 departures a week between them on the summer 2026 schedule. Kansas City is not. There is still no nonstop between MCI and anywhere in Europe, so every Jayhawk connects, most likely through Chicago, Dallas or an East Coast hub. The nearest nonstop for a Kansas fan is now St. Louis: British Airways started Heathrow to St. Louis on April 19, 2026, four times a week on a 787-8, which turns the connection into a drive across Missouri on I-70 and one flight.
Fly into Heathrow if you have the choice. It is the west-side airport, on the same side of the city as the stadium, with the simplest rail links to the neighbourhoods above.
The stadium calendar after the football ran England v Spain in the Nations League on Saturday, September 26, England v Czechia on Tuesday, October 6, and the NFL’s Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, October 18, with the Jaguars as the home side; the Texans won that one 34-31 in front of 82,497. The Wembley Park hotel logic above applied to all three.
The next confirmed European college football game is in Dublin. Pitt plays Wisconsin at Aviva Stadium on Saturday, August 28, 2027, and the Aer Lingus Classic guide has what this year’s North Carolina win over TCU did to that market. For the home versions of these two teams, the Kansas Memorial Stadium and Mountain America Stadium guides cover Lawrence and Tempe game weekends.
Kansas plays Middle Tennessee in Lawrence on October 3. Arizona State hosts Baylor in Tempe the same day.
Guide updated 2026-10-24
The money play
This event is over. Going to another date at Wembley Stadium? Hold a free-cancellation rate in London and note the cutoff date on it. Up to that date you can drop the room without a fee.
Cancellation windows on other fans' bookings close in waves, so rooms reopen days before the event. Holding a refundable rate means every re-check can only save you money.
Plans change, matchups shift, tickets fall through. A refundable room is an option, not a commitment. Keep the best price you find and drop the rest.
Arizona State, 24-17 over Kansas at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, September 19, 2026. Kansas outgained the Sun Devils 414 yards to 228 and lost anyway, because it turned the ball over three times and Arizona State did not turn it over once. The play everyone will remember is Jaren Hamilton's 100-yard kickoff return to open the second half, which pushed a 10-7 game to 17-7. Arizona State left London 2-1 and 1-0 in the Big 12; Kansas fell to 1-2 and 0-1.
Not announced as of September 22, 2026. The organisers have a three-year agreement with Wembley for an annual game, with an option for a fourth year, and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said at halftime that the conference wants more. But no teams are finalised for 2027, no date has been published, and the event's own website still lists only the Kansas-Arizona State game. Nothing exists to book. When a matchup is announced, take a refundable London room that day and sort the ticket afterwards.
The announced crowd was 46,523, in a stadium that holds 90,000. Organisers had said they hoped for around 60,000. The upper tier was left unsold; the Associated Press reported that local buyers with upper-tier seats were emailed two weeks before the game and moved down into the lower bowl, which is why the photos looked the way they did. Brian Dubiski, the Union Jack Classic's CEO, told the AP that anything over 40,000 to 50,000 is a viable business model. The lower bowl was full and loud, and both marching bands played all afternoon.
Chiltern Railways from Marylebone, which reaches Wembley Stadium station in under 10 minutes and leaves you about a four-minute walk from the turnstiles. On event days Chiltern runs an enhanced timetable with extra trains and extra Wembley Stadium stops, and afterwards it sorts the station into colour-coded queues; blue is the Marylebone-only one. Contactless and Oyster pay-as-you-go both work. The other route is the Jubilee or Metropolitan line to Wembley Park, then the ten-minute walk down Olympic Way, which is how most of the crowd arrived on September 19.
One small bag per person, no bigger than A4: 297mm tall, 210mm wide, 210mm deep. Stewards measure at an outer cordon, a bag folded down to look smaller is still refused, and Wembley has no cloakroom, bag drop or left luggage. An oversized bag means a trip back to the hotel. The stadium is fully cashless, so bring a card or a phone.
Think in train lines. Marylebone is the best address because of the Chiltern link. The Metropolitan line corridor north of Baker Street and the Jubilee stops at Kilburn, Willesden Green and West Hampstead give you direct trains to Wembley Park at outer-London rates. Wembley Park itself is a small hotel pocket that fills with anything on the stadium calendar, so book it early or not at all. And check what else London has on that week before you pick a date: the 2026 game landed on London Fashion Week and the Design Festival, and that is what priced central London that weekend.
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