Wembley's Waning Influence: Concerts Trump Tradition for FA

Another year, another Community Shield detour. This time, it's The Weeknd. Seriously. The Football Association announced today that the 2026 Community Shield will be played at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, marking the second time in three years the traditional curtain-raiser has been forced from Wembley. In 2024, it was an NFL fixture. Now, a pop star's tour date.

It begs the question: What's more important to the FA, tradition or ticket sales for stadium events? Wembley, a stadium that cost an estimated £798 million to build and officially reopened in 2007, was supposed to be the spiritual home of English football. Instead, it's becoming a revolving door for whoever pays the most. Last year, the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars played two games there. In 2023, Blur packed the place for two nights. The stadium generates significant revenue, pulling in £109 million in 2023, but at what cost to the game itself?

Look, nobody's saying Wembley shouldn't host concerts or other events. It's a world-class venue. But the Community Shield, while often dismissed as a glorified friendly, still holds a place in the football calendar. It’s the official start of the new season, a chance for the previous season’s league champions and FA Cup winners to clash. Manchester City beat Arsenal 4-1 on penalties in the 2023 Shield after a 1-1 draw, a high-stakes affair that felt like more than just a warm-up. That game was at Wembley. The atmosphere was electric.

Here's the thing: Moving the game to Cardiff isn't the end of the world. Principality Stadium is a fantastic venue, with a retractable roof and a capacity of 74,500. It hosted the 2017 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Juventus. It’s a proven stage. But it’s not Wembley. And it sends a message. The FA is effectively saying that a pop concert, booked Lord knows how far in advance, takes precedence over their own flagship domestic fixture.

Real talk: The FA needs to get its scheduling house in order. If they want Wembley to be the home of English football finals and season openers, then they need to protect those dates. Otherwise, they're just renting out their spiritual home to the highest bidder. And that’s a slippery slope. You start moving the Shield, what’s next? FA Cup semi-finals? The final itself? Unlikely, sure, but the precedent is being set.

I think this whole situation highlights a broader issue: the commercialization of football has reached a point where the game's cultural significance is sometimes secondary to profit margins. The FA reported a turnover of £509 million in 2023, largely driven by broadcast rights and sponsorship deals. That's a huge sum. But it also means they have less incentive to push back against lucrative non-football events.

My hot take? The FA will eventually sell off the naming rights to Wembley Stadium. It's too valuable a commercial asset to remain untainted by corporate sponsorship. And when that happens, the last vestiges of its traditional identity will disappear, replaced by whatever brand pays the biggest cheque. It'll be the "Acme Corporation Arena" before 2030, mark my words.