The 2023 Heineken Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup finals have been moved from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, Sky Sports have revealed.
Since its opening back in 2019, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has hosted NFL matches, boxing, concerts and several other high-profile events.
The 62,850-capacity venue was originally chosen to host the 2021 finals of the Heineken Champions Cup, which is the top-tier rugby competition for clubs whose countries’ national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship.
However, due to disruptions caused by Covid-19, the 2021 final was played in front of 10,000 fans at Twickenham.
It was instead decided that the Heineken Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup finals in 2023 would be hosted at Tottenham’s home ground on May 19 and May 20 of next year respectively.
However, Sky Sports have now revealed that both matches will be held at the Aviva Stadium instead, partly due to scheduling issues created by a later Premier League season next year.
European Professional Club Rugby chairman Dominic McKay has said that the finals of the Heineken Champions Cup will be played at Spurs’ stadium in the near future.
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He told Sky Sports: “We are very happy to continue working with Tottenham to stage our finals there soon. It is a sensational stadium with a burgeoning history of hosting rugby matches.
“In the meantime, it is exciting to be returning to a rugby heartland at the Aviva Stadium, and we look forward to welcoming fans, clubs, players and stakeholders to what promises to be an outstanding weekend in May next year.”
Spurs Web Opinion
This is a blow to Spurs as the club could have made a considerable amount of revenue through food and drink sales in that game, even if the majority of the ticket proceeds might have gone to the EPCR.
Given that the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is slowly but surely being established as the best sporting arena in London, the number of events at the venue is only going to go up over the coming years.
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