A college football game will be played in London in 2026 according to a report from Scott Hamilton of The Post and Courier on Thursday.
Per the report, a new college football neutral site series titled the ‘Union Jack Classic’ will be played at Wembley Stadium in London, England. The first matchup will feature the Arizona State Sun Devils taking on the Kansas Jayhawks on September 19, 2026 in a Big 12 Conference tilt.
The Arizona State-Kansas matchup would mark only the second college football game to be played in England. The first-ever college football game in England was played on Oct. 16, 1988 when Richmond defeated Boston University, 20-17, at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in south London.
Wembley Stadium, which opened in 2007, is the home of the England national football team and the NFL London games. The venue has a seating capacity of 86,000 for American football.
In order to schedule the Arizona State-Kansas game for Sept. 19, 2026, both schools will have to make adjustments to their previously scheduled non-conference opponents. Arizona State was previously scheduled to host Hawaii on Sept. 19, 2026, while Kansas was scheduled to host Middle Tennessee.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Kansas will seek an NCAA waiver to move its Sept. 19 home game against Middle Tennessee to Week Zero. Hawaii already has a Week Zero game scheduled on the road against Stanford, so its game at Arizona State will likely be set for another date or moved to another season.
The Big 12 is no stranger to neutral-site games overseas. Iowa State and Kansas state opened the 2025 season in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland, in Week Zero. The Cyclones defeated the Wildcats in that contest, 24-21.
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If NFL can do it so can CFB.
Would make an excellent home game for Arizona State to escape the heat.
I don’t understand why they won’t just schedule it for Week Zero.
Why not play it in Week 0?
Why have neutral site games at all?
BYUfan:
The answer to that question is pretty easy: More money. But why not Week Zero?
BYUfan Football fans can be violent.
Don’t like it.
Way too many neutral site games in college football. I especially hate when conference games are outsourced. It creates a competitive disadvantage for the team losing the home game. I like the way it was back in the late 80’s when the only neutral site games were the original Kickoff Classic in the Meadowlands, and later the Pigskin Classic in California. These were add on games that did not take a home game away from fans and students. Most schools only get seven home games. Since one of those seven are almost assuredly an FCS opponent, and a second is potentially an unattractive lower division team, that leaves only five interesting games. Losing one of those is bad practice.
I rather have Michigan-Alabama play in Buffalo, NY than having half of Bama fans in Ann Arbor, MI at Big House.
You must not be from the South. Both Red River and the Cocktail Party have been neutral site since forever. The Cocktail Party has always been a conference game too. The Iron Bowl also use to be neutral site.
Heck, even in the North, ND has been playing neutral site games virtually every year for over a century now.
You must not be a college football fan.
Richard, Hope you do not mind me using the word like because I like 50/50 split at Cocktail Party for Georgia-Florida & Red River for Texas-Oklahoma.
I forgot about the Red River Shootout and the Cocktail Party, but those are unique in that the games are tradition and take place in locations between the two respective campuses, not thousands of miles away, though UGA fans do have a bit of a hike to Jacksonville from Athens. Also, both teams “lose” a home game, not just one. In some years, ND’s “Shamrock Series” game was their EIGHTH “home” game. Also, they very rarely play FCS teams, so their fans are still getting six quality games in South Bend.
They should have went with Akron vs. Kent State………
Great stuff! I only live about 2 hrs from Wembley stadium and I can’t wait for this. When do tickets go on sale?
I presume it’s not in Week 0 because Wembley won’t be set up for American Soccer that early. Having the game on September 19 allows the facility to remain set up for American Soccer for the NFL games to follow while also allowing enough time to convert from college to NFL.
That doesn’t make a lot of sense. Not much time is needed to set up.
Richard, If you think the time is the main issue, you’re forgetting the reason America football is played in London.
I want to see Eagles divisional nemeses Cowboys host an NFL game in London Tottenham Spur Stadium next year & Titans would make an excellent opponent.