Newcastle is bidding to host both European Rugby Cup finals in 2018.
The bid is a partnership between NewcastleGateshead Initiative, Newcastle City Council, Newcastle United Football Club and Newcastle Rugby Limited.
If successful, United's St James' Park will stage the Champions Cup final and Newcastle Falcons' Kingston Park will host the Challenge Cup final.
A final decision will be made in April 2017.
The next stage of the bidding process sees a shortlist of candidate cities drawn up by 16 December, followed by venue visits and a selection process through to March 2017.
St James' Park, with a capacity in excess of 52,000, has previously staged international matches during Rugby World Cup 2015 and has played host to rugby league's Magic Weekend for the past two seasons.