New research shows that Manchester City Stadium pays a business rates bill of £1.9m, placing it ahead of London’s Olympic Stadium. The data from independent property consultancy Daniel Watney has revealed the collective £13m of business rates bills for stadia hosting Rugby World Cup games.
Wembley Stadium has topped the list with a staggering £3m annual bill. Manchester City’s recently expanded Etihad stadium faces a large £1.9m rates bill while the Olympic Stadium has a relatively low business rates bill of just £590,000 – a quarter of the cost faced by London neighbours Wembley.
Considering Manchester City football club pay Manchester City council a flat annual rental fee of £2.5m it will shock many observers that the council spends £1.9m of that back to itself in business rates. By comparison the 25 days of business rates that West Ham will occupy the Stadium per year would cost around £40,000 when pro rataed down.