The news that West Ham will not host a home pre-season game at the London Stadium is not a surprise.
Claret and Hugh suggested this would be the case two weeks ago when we ran an article entitled ‘pre-season friendly in doubt’
The surprise is that the final away game against Lens in Franc
in the pre-season fixture schedule will not be the Betway cup.
The Hammers signed a six-year deal with their primary sponsor Betway in 2019 which is reported to be worth £10m per season and includes a contractual obligation for the Betway cup to be played.
This Premier League season will start much earlier on 8th August and pause after 13th November when it will stop for the World Cup.
This would potentially give West Ham the opportunity to stage a friendly at the London Stadium in November or December if they wanted although many international players would be missing from West Ham and any opposition of any note.
A friendly match might be just the distraction supporters would welcome during the Qatar World cup.
The club have the right to play one friendly per season at the London Stadium as part of their concessionaire agreement so it would be unlikely they would forfeit that money-making opportunity completely this season.
