London Stadium bosses have said it is “vital” that the venue should be allowed to host more concerts, with louder noise limits and larger attendance. London Stadium 185 (LS185), which manages the venue, wants Newham Council to approve the increase as part of a plan to offset financial losses.
The company says current restrictions mean it struggles to “compete with other major venues” and has lost out on bids to host artists such as Harry Styles and Bad Bunny.
Planning application seeks higher limits
London Stadium has applied for planning permission to increase the number of non-sports events it can hold to 24 a year. The company also wants to be able to host concerts for up to four nights in a row, to increase the number of people allowed to attend concerts and sports events, and to relax noise restrictions.
Conditions attached to its current planning permission limit the stadium to hosting ten events a year, with a maximum capacity of 80,000 people, and no more than three nights in a row.
Lost opportunities and rival venues
A statement included with its planning application says these limits “are increasingly restrictive, inhibiting LS185’s ability to compete with other major London venues”. It adds: “This has resulted in opportunities being lost at the stadium due to it not being able to match the offer of other venues in London.”
The statement says London Stadium has lost out on bids to host artists such as Jay-Z, Harry Styles, Beyonce and Bad Bunny to rivals Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Wembley Stadium.
Proposed changes and financial context
Plans for the Newham venue include increasing maximum attendance to 85,000 for eight of the 24 event days, and a new noise limit of 75 decibels. Currently, noise is capped at 75 decibels for six of its permitted annual events, and 65 decibels for the remaining four.
The stadium also wants permission to increase maximum attendance for all sports events to 62,500. Currently, only West Ham United – which uses the stadium as its home ground – is allowed to host this number of spectators. Attendance at other sports events is capped at 60,000.
London Stadium says increasing maximum attendance is “vital” for its bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships. The stadium can currently host up to 87 sports events a year. Under the new plans, this would be reduced to 70 – a reduction that bosses say won’t affect West Ham games.
However, the stadium wants to be able to include boxing matches among its 24 other permitted events, to allow for higher attendance. Its planning statement noted that 96,000 people were allowed to attend a match between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois at Wembley in 2024.
In July, London Stadium bosses told the Greater London Authority – which owns the stadium – they needed to host more major non-sporting events to mitigate financial losses. They said the stadium loses £19million a year as the rent it gets from West Ham United doesn’t cover running costs.
Speaking at the London Assembly in July, London Stadium chair Lyn Garner said the stadium’s annual losses had been in the “ballpark” of £19m “for some time”. However she also said 2025/26 had been a “particularly bad year for London Stadium, with only two summer concerts”.
LS185’s application can be viewed at Newham Council’s planning website using reference number 26/01784/FUL.
