London Stadium tells Newham Council it is losing Jay-Z and Beyoncé to rivals because of planning restrictions

London Stadium is haemorrhaging major acts to Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium because Newham Council's planning rules cap it at just ten events a year with a maximum 80,000 crowd. Manager LS185 has filed a planning application to raise that to 24 events, push the top attendance to 85,000 on eight days, and lift the noise ceiling to 75 decibels across the board. The venue is nursing £19m in financial losses and warns looser rules are equally "vital" to securing the 2029 World Athletics Championships.

Lost bids include Jay-Z, Harry Styles, Beyoncé and Bad Bunny — all taken by rival venues that face fewer restrictions.

The application would also extend concert runs from three consecutive nights to four and expand all sports-event capacity to 62,500, not just West Ham matches.

Boxing would be added to the permitted events list, with the stadium pointing to the 96,000-capacity Joshua-Dubois bout held at Wembley in 2024.