Twickenham Capacity, and the £100m Rename

Twickenham holds 82,000, which makes it the largest stadium built specifically for rugby union anywhere in the world and the second largest stadium of any kind in the UK.

In September 2024 it became Allianz Stadium under a £100 million, ten-year naming-rights deal — the first rebrand in the venue’s 115-year history.

Capacity	82,000
Opened	1909
Owner	Rugby Football Union (RFU)
Current name	Allianz Stadium, since September 2024
Naming-rights deal	£100 million over 10 years
Rank in UK	2nd, behind Wembley
Rank in Europe	5th

The £100 million rename, and why it was contentious

For 115 years the ground was simply Twickenham. Selling that ended in 2024, and it was not a quiet transaction — the RFU’s chief executive publicly rejected the charge that the union had sold out, and the deal drew significant comment across the sport.

The commercial logic is straightforward. The RFU owns the stadium outright, so £100 million over a decade flows to the governing body and, in principle, into the game rather than to a private owner.

The counter-argument is about heritage. Twickenham is one of a small number of grounds whose name carries as much recognition as the sport played there, and that is precisely why it commanded nine figures. It is also worth noting that the same negotiation reportedly ended Allianz’s parallel talks with West Ham over the London Stadium.

The contrast with Wembley and Old Trafford

Twickenham’s decision looks sharper next to the two grounds either side of it in the UK rankings, because neither has ever sold its name.

Stadium	Capacity	Naming rights
Wembley	~90,000	Never sold; sponsored as “connected by EE”
Twickenham	82,000	Sold 2024, £100m / 10 years
Old Trafford	~74,310	Never sold

Wembley is owned by the FA and Old Trafford by a commercially aggressive club — see Wembley Stadium capacity and Old Trafford capacity — and both have held the line on the name while selling almost everything else. Barcelona took the middle route, placing a sponsor in front of the historic name at Spotify Camp Nou.

Three different answers to the same question, at three of Europe’s largest grounds. Our ranking of the biggest stadium naming rights deals sets out what each one is actually worth per year, and why the English figures are not comparable with the American ones.

Where it ranks

Second in the UK, behind Wembley’s 90,000 and ahead of Old Trafford. Fifth in Europe, ahead of Signal Iduna Park and the Stade de France, as set out in our ranking of the largest stadium in Europe.

The comparison people ask about most is Croke Park, and it is genuinely close: 82,300 against 82,000. Croke Park is a Gaelic games stadium, so Twickenham keeps the “largest rugby union ground in the world” claim while sitting a few hundred seats behind on raw capacity.

Left out of Euro 2028

Twickenham is the second largest ground in the Euro 2028 host nations and is not a tournament venue.

The reason is practical rather than political — it is built for rugby, with pitch dimensions and infrastructure to match. But it puts Twickenham in notable company: Croke Park (82,300), Old Trafford (~74,310) and Murrayfield (67,144) were also passed over, all of them larger than seven of the nine grounds selected. Our guide to the Euro 2028 venues sets out the full list.

You cannot buy a ticket for England here

This is the most practically useful thing about Twickenham, and it surprises most people.

The RFU distributes tickets for major internationals only through registered rugby clubs, which receive an allocation and ballot it among their members. There is no public general sale. Club membership is effectively the route in, and residents of certain local postcodes can register a free Twickenham Residents membership to enter ballots instead.

Along with Royal Ascot’s Royal Enclosure, it is one of only two access systems we have found in premium sport where a willing buyer genuinely cannot purchase entry. The full mechanism, including the club window dates, is in our guide to Six Nations tickets.

The tournament it hosts pays its champions nothing at all — our guide to Six Nations prize money explains where the money goes instead.

How we checked these numbers

Capacity, opening date and ownership are from Wikipedia’s Twickenham entry. The £100 million ten-year naming-rights deal, the September 2024 rebrand date, the RFU chief executive’s response and the West Ham detail are from SportsPro and Mondaq’s reporting of the agreement. The ticket distribution mechanism is from England Rugby’s own club ticketing guidance, and the Euro 2028 venue list from UEFA.

The 82,000 figure is the standard rugby configuration. Concert capacities differ and are not comparable.

Review class: stable, with event-driven triggers — recheck on any capacity revision, at the end of the Allianz deal term, or if the Euro 2028 venue list changes.