Sadiq Khan has officially backed a new multi-purpose arena for the London Lions, giving the basketball club the green light to push forward with a bold vision that could generate a staggering £3.4 billion boost to the local economy.
While the move has been hailed as a major step for sport and culture in the capital, it has prompted a question for West Ham supporters — if it can woke for basketball then why not the Hammers?
Just days ago, Khan admitted he’d be “open to discussions” with potential new West Ham owners regarding the future of the London Stadium. But his swift and enthusiastic backing of the Lions’ has demonstrated that if there was genuine desire from David Sullivan and Karren Brady, The Hammers could also look to redevelop.
Of course, every Irons fan knows that the current West Ham ownership have neither the funds or the ambition for such a redevelopment, but there remains hope that more forward thinking owners would.
London Lions get strategic support – so why not West Ham?
The case for a purpose-built football stadium in Stratford grows by the day and the fact that even UK Athletics have deserted Stratford in favour of Birmingham speaks volumes. West Ham regularly fill a 60,000-seater ground in the country’s biggest sport, and the site offers enormous redevelopment potential — retail, leisure, residential and commercial. To suggest there’s no financial benefit in such a project is, frankly, nonsense.
With the London Lions already completing the first phase of their feasibility study, they now have City Hall’s technical and strategic support behind them. Compare that to West Ham’s long-running battle with an ill-fitting athletics bowl and a lease agreement that leaves little room for modernisation.
If basketball can unlock billions in investment, imagine what a properly planned football stadium could deliver — both for West Ham and for London.
It’s not going to happen, if the government has said no to Utd, West ham will get the same response. Would fans be willing to see their ticket prices double for a new stadium?
Sorry but this never going to happen. Firstly, UK Athletics have not deserted the London Stadium and it is still used for the Diamond League meeting and they are pushing hard to stage the 2029 World Athletics Championship. Additionally, a 2040 bid for the Olympics is also in the offering. Yes the stadium owners have tried to get the UKA to move out of London, but this more about their poor running off the stadium rather than UKA wanting leave. If the UK is ever to the World Arhletics Championships or another Olympics it can only happen in London. Birmingham and Manchester learnt this the hard way.
If West Ham want a new stadium they will need new owners an a new location to build it.
Would love to see it happen, no chance under Sullivan though, not just the cost to redevelop which would be a couple of billion or more but the cost of upkeep and Policing etc would make it unviable from a business perspective.
If we had Qatari owners might be a different kettle of fish because they can also attract sponsors and other mega rich investors to make the numbers work.
Untill there are new owners nothing will be changed
Gonzo, I’m fully on board with what a purpose built football stadium could deliver for West Ham and its supporters but I’m struggling to see what the wider London public would gain.
Well, they’d gain by not having to subsidise the London Stadium from tax payers money by £20-30m per year for starters Steve.
Then they’d also have genuine regeneration of the stadium site which could comfortably fit 4 Tottenham Stadiums inside it and would see retail, business, leisure and residential buildings go up alongside the new ground.
What about the access infrastructure? Trains and boats and planes.
We could just leave the outer shell and build the stadium of every West Ham fan’s dreams in the space inside. All standing cages next to the touchline. Cheap beer and jellied eels readily available. Reserved seating areas for tourists and casuals. Cameras on cages to show the faithful on the big screens. Protest song sheets and big foam hands with a pointy finger to create some atmosphere.
Endless possibilities. Just need to persuade the taxpayers to come up with the cash.