London Mayor Sadiq Khan Wants to Bring Super Bowl, WrestleMania, More to UK Capital

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is ready to bring the sports world to his city.

He said Thursday that he wants London to be the "sporting capital of the world," per Caoimhe O'Neill and Omar Garrick of The Athletic.

While the city is hosting the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund on Saturday and will be under the spotlight this summer with events such as Wimbledon, he stressed his desire for "more international events" such as the Super Bowl, WrestleMania and boxing showdowns.

"I want (Anthony) Joshua and (Daniel) Dubois to take place in London," Khan said. "I want international WrestleMania taking place in London. The Super Bowl is really important for us. We have a number of American football games and I want it to come here because we want American sports fans in Europe to come to London to watch them, not just go to America."

There have been NFL games in London every year since 2007, but they were all of the regular-season variety. And the next WrestleMania to take place in London will be the first.

The city will once again have the chance to showcase itself to American football fans during the 2024 campaign with three games.

The New York Jets will face the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 6, the Chicago Bears will play the Jacksonville Jaguars at the same stadium on Oct. 13, and the Jaguars will go against the New England Patriots at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 20.

A Super Bowl in London never seemed more realistic than in October when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said it was something that "has been discussed" and "is not impossible."

However, NFL executive vice president Peter O'Reilly put a rest to much of that speculation, at least in terms of the immediate future:

The next three Super Bowls are already scheduled for New Orleans, Santa Clara (California) and Inglewood (California), so it will be some time before London will even have a realistic chance of hosting the NFL's biggest game of the year.

But Khan isn't shy about his desire for it to happen and will surely keep pushing for it even as the city hosts other marquee events.