Three-Quarters of Airbnbs Near Cardiff's Stadium Are Off the Market for Fury v Joshua
Before tickets have even gone on general sale for Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua's December fight in Cardiff, most Airbnbs near the Principality Stadium are already off the market for the night.
As of Oct. 1, 74% of the 1,545 active Airbnb listings within two miles of the stadium were booked or blocked for Friday, Dec. 11, according to AirROI, a short-term-rental data firm, which checked their live calendars. On the Fridays either side, the share was 31% and 25%.
Of the roughly 1,000 listings open on both of those Fridays, two-thirds are now booked or blocked for fight night, and the squeeze runs across every size of home, from studios to four-bedroom houses.
The share is just as high farther out. Two to 10 miles from the stadium, about four in five homes are booked or blocked, against a quarter to a third on the Fridays either side.
In AirROI's August data, Dec. 11 was no busier than the Fridays around it, and hosts were asking their usual prices. The gap has opened since.
The main event is expected in the early hours of Saturday, so many in a crowd at a stadium that holds up to 80,000 for boxing are likely to need a bed on Friday night. On the same calendars, Saturday rises less, and Thursday less still.
Hotels are scarce too. David Chapman, executive director of UKHospitality Cymru, told BBC News on Sept. 25 that demand for hotels in the city was "incredibly high." Some residents are weighing whether to let a home for the night, just as Wales opened a register that covers them.
The Welsh Revenue Authority opened that register on Oct. 1 for anyone who takes bookings for overnight stays in Wales. The government's own example is a host who lets her main home on Airbnb once a year for a local event.
The Principality Stadium's announcement of the fight on Sept. 24 carried a caveat: "The event remains subject to licence." Two days earlier, Cardiff Council said in a statement that the stadium's current license permits boxing until 1 a.m. and that it had received no application to vary it. A finish after 1 a.m. would need that change.
Chris Weaver, the council's leader, said in the announcement that there were "still some arrangements to be finalised with the organisers, including any required changes to Principality Stadium's premises licence." A promotional dispute briefly put the fight in doubt soon after, before both fighters appeared at a launch news conference in London on Sept. 30.
Spencer Brown, Fury's manager, said in an interview, WalesOnline reported on Sept. 30, that "the whole of Cardiff seems to be sold out already."
Near the stadium, the calendars come close: about 400 listings within two miles were still open for the night, against more than 1,000 on each Friday either side.
What's left, and at what price
The homes still open are asking far more than usual. Their median ask is £700 a night before fees, and the typical one asks about three-quarters more than it does on the Fridays either side.
More than half ask at least 50% more than usual, and about a quarter ask five times as much or more. Only about three in ten show their usual price.
The larger homes still open push hardest. Entire homes with three or more bedrooms ask a median two and a half times their usual Friday price.
WalesOnline reported on Sept. 25 that a six-bedroom house was "currently being advertised for an eye-watering £7,250." On Oct. 1, the highest nightly ask within two miles was about £6,900, for an eight-bedroom home less than a mile from the stadium; cleaning and service fees push a guest's total higher. On the Fridays either side, that home asks about £2,800.
At the other end, about 100 of the listings still open ask under £200. The cheapest one-night stay is a hotel room listed on Airbnb, at about £50.
With each listing's minimum stay and cleaning fee added, a typical fight-night stay within two miles comes to about £1,300 before Airbnb's guest fees. Fewer than half the open homes take a one-night booking.
The squeeze reaches Newport
James Corrigan, a Telegraph columnist, wrote on the day the fight was announced that accommodation "will be a massive problem with no solution, apart from Newport or Bristol."
The fight shows up in Newport. About half of the active Airbnbs near Newport's center are booked or blocked for fight night, against about one in seven on the Fridays either side. The typical home still open there asks close to its usual price, though about one in five asks at least 50% more.
In a sample of Bristol listings, fight night is no busier than the Fridays around it. Across the table, the share off the market stays high out to 10 miles from the stadium and eases in Newport, while asks of homes still open are highest near the stadium.
| Area | Booked or blocked, Dec. 11 | Fridays either side | Median ask of homes still open, Dec. 11 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within 2 miles of the stadium | 74% | 31% / 25% | £700 |
| 2–3 miles | 80% | 33% / 30% | £480 |
| 3–10 miles | 79% | 24% / 27% | £355 |
| Newport | 50% | 16% / 14% | £160 |
| Bristol (sample) | 37% | 39% / 33% | £135 |
Airbnb listings with at least one open night in the next year, as of Oct. 1. Newport and Bristol: within about 3 miles of each city center; Newport excludes listings within 10 miles of the stadium. Asking prices are nightly, before fees. Source: AirROI.
Airbnb has pitched its hosts as the overflow for big events. "Airbnb hosts provide scalable accommodation that enables areas without traditional infrastructure like hotels to meet increased demand from big events," Luke Impett, Airbnb's UK partnerships lead, said in a July 2025 release.
The same release said that on the weekend Oasis tickets went on sale, Newport saw the biggest rise in searches for listings near Cardiff.
What Oasis paid nearby hosts
Nev White, who lives on Mark Street beside the stadium, told WalesOnline on Sept. 25 that the family had thought about moving in with relatives and letting the house: "I think we could make thousands of pounds from doing that." But after years of renovating, "I'm not sure whether we'd want to."
"Any kind of sporting event is just a nightmare," Sarah Hill, who lives close to the stadium, told BBC News the same day. "The entire city shuts."
One precedent is Oasis, which opened its reunion tour at the stadium on July 4 last year. Measured after the fact, by nights actually booked rather than booked or blocked, nearly nine in ten active Airbnbs within two miles sold that night, against about three-quarters on the Fridays either side. The median listed price on nights that sold rose about 13%, to about £195.
Counting the ones that sat empty, active homes brought in about £250 each that night at their listed prices, against about £170 on the Fridays either side.
The gain came partly from homes that filled a night they had otherwise left empty, and partly from a minority that charged far more. Of the homes that sold on Oasis night and on both Fridays either side, one in five charged at least 50% more, but the typical one charged about its usual price.
AirROI found much the same at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where median booked rates near the circuit rose only 3% to 8%, depending on size.
Entire homes with three or more bedrooms brought in about £420 each on average on Oasis night, against about £300 on the Fridays either side.
Tickets are due on sale Oct. 9
The general sale is scheduled to open at midday, nine weeks before the fight. On Mark Street, residents who let their homes for the night have until March 31, 2027, to register them with the Welsh Revenue Authority.
About the data: AirROI checked live Airbnb calendars within 10 miles of the stadium, in Newport and for a Bristol sample on Oct. 1, 2026. Prices are nightly asking rates before fees; Oasis figures are listed prices on booked nights.
Frequently Asked Questions
Homes within two miles of the stadium that were still open for Dec. 11 asked a median of about £700 a night on Oct. 1, before cleaning and service fees. A typical stay that night, counting each host's minimum-night rule and cleaning fee, came to about £1,300 before Airbnb's service fee. The typical open home in Newport was asking close to its usual rate.
Newport is tighter than usual: about half of the active Airbnbs near its center were booked or blocked for Dec. 11 as of Oct. 1, against about one in seven on the Fridays either side. A sample of Bristol listings showed no fight-night rise, and the typical asking price in both was close to usual. Transport for Wales told WalesOnline on Sept. 28 that it was exploring ways to help fans "return home during the early hours of the morning."
One guide is Oasis's opening night at the stadium on July 4, 2025, when active Airbnbs within two miles brought in about £250 each on average at listed prices, counting those that sat empty, against about £170 on the Fridays either side. Bigger homes took more. Under HMRC's property allowance, up to £1,000 of property income a tax year is tax-free.
Yes: Wales now requires everyone who takes bookings for overnight stays in Wales to register with the Welsh Revenue Authority, including a resident who lets a main home once a year for a local event. Registration opened Oct. 1, 2026, is free and must be done by March 31, 2027; the first penalty for missing it is £100 per premises, rising to as much as £1,400 if the authority has to chase. Cardiff's visitor levy applies only to stays from April 1, 2027.
