London Stadium pre-season friendly unlikely
The London Stadium concessionaire agreement signed by West Ham in 2013 does include a provision for up to two friendly games and or a pre-season tournament but the clause says for the full match operating costs incurred by operator London Stadium 185 must be paid by the Hammers.
In the case of the Juventus match in 2016, this amounted close to £250,000, last season the World Athletics Championship dismissed any chance of a pre-season friendly but this summer there is a small window for a pre-season friendly this summer should West Ham choose to host one.
Claret and Hugh understand that the stadium operator wants to charge a facility fee of £300,000 on top of operating costs which could reach as much as £250,000.
At a rent of £550,000, the financial viability of a pre-season friendly could be brought into serious question.
If you ignore the novelty value of Juventus with an attendance of 53,966 as being the official opening ceremony at the London Stadium, friendlies have often been poorly attended by West Ham supporters. The last season at the Boleyn Ground against Werder Bremen drew a crowd of just 9,919 and the season before that a pre-season friendly against Sampdoria had an attendance of just 13,693.