West Ham is estimated to have lost over half the original London Stadium founders since moving to the former London 2012 Olympic stadium in 2016.
The first season in Stratford saw 50,000 supporters sign up for season tickets to become London Stadium founders and their names at recorded on the founders’ wall in the ground.
Since then just under 29,000 have not renewed their seats over the last eight years even if you factor in those returning after one season away it is probably safe to say at least 25,000 have left never to return.
Renewal rates from 2017 to 2024 have ranged between 88% and 97% while the number of season ticket holders have ranged between 48,500 and 55,000 each season.
All eyes will be on this summer’s renewal rate with protests against concessions and ticket pricing and a lack of atmosphere and performances at home to excite fans.
It remains to be seen whether supporters will vote with their feet as the original season ticket holders that moved from the Boleyn Ground are further diluted.
One thing you can rely on , Brady will spin it.
Brady is Mostly driven by a ‘Strange’ hate of Spurs.
FACT, it’s SO cheap as it is in General Subsidised by the Tax payers.
Whoever did the deal had a extremely low I q .
AND it’s a contract of Astounding length !! .
A Terrible Football ground.
A Scandel to benefit A Football club , which remains the biggest football Scandel.
I was a founder and been going since I was 12 home and away iam 59 now .I stopped going this season because of the stadium I just cannot get on with it it’s not a football ground right location wrong ground !!!!
God knows what that ground would be like in the championship? It’s not worth thinking about ! Then Sullivan will panic and actually spend some money but it will set back the club years! At a loss of hundreds of millions such a shame that the fans aren’t appreciated by the owners as they truly want the best for west ham united.I know several season ticket holders who are contemplating not renewing next season as they become dissalusioned with the direction west ham are heading.
Only time I’m returning to that s***hole is to see Iron Maiden in the summer
From that piece, I understand that West Ham has reduced the number of available Season Tickets by 6,500.
The next money-making scheme for West Ham and other Premier League Clubs is Surge Pricing, better known as dynamic pricing.
Surge pricing can only happen on general admission tickets, as season tickets are set at a price.
It will be interesting to see how many season tickets will be made available for next season.
Dreadful click-baiting headline, stick to board leaks and don’t try write too much yourself.
An alternative view is that there are tens of thousands of other supporters waiting to take their place.
Sensational headline but I’d say thats fairly normal for most clubs to lose a few thousand a year. People move, people die, people can’t afford it anymore. People can’t attend anymore for a variety of reasons. (25000 over eight years is a few thousand a year) The club maintains a substantial waiting list for season tickets. It was reported in 2023 that approximately 3,500 season tickets became available to those on the waiting list after a 94% renewal rate by existing holders. The club charges a £10 non-refundable deposit, redeemable against the cost of a future season ticket.
Exactly what this guy is saying, another piece of sensationalism for click bait purposes by this site..
As for atmosphere too much blame is placed on the stadium and not enough on the teams performance. If we were top of the league, the place would be rocking. Think back to the really good games especially in the Europa League/cup. Fans create atmosphere not concrete.
Also consider what all seater stadiums have done in this respect. I’ve been going for 55 years. This killed atmosphere at most grounds overnight. This is a more convoluted element than people think, also attitudes and expectation have hugely shifted in society resulting in a huge rise in abuse and toxic reactions. It is this element that will probably drive me away from renewing my season ticket, as this toxic abuse hugely contributes to poor team performance and destroys the game..
of that 29000, it is likely that 5000 would either of sadly died or be incapacitated by age from going. People get older, people die, peoples financial situation changes, people move, people change jobs, some people pursue other activities or lose interest. There is a raft of reasons that season tickets are not renewed. Same for all clubs.
This is 2025 not 1975.
Misleading, sensations nonsense, designed to get the whingers going. Shame.
I was one of the 4850 last year, I don’t think I will renew while we have Sullivan as an owner, will be interesting to see this year whether that number increases. I miss going to the games but was not sure what else I could do to protest so used the only tool I had.
when the owners promised a World Class Stadium with World Class Players & Championship League Football, it was all lies, I gave my season ticket up in 2019 & glad I did especially with the dross football on offer & it’s an Athletic Stadium not fit for football & winning a 3rd rate European trophy with the amount of money spent on players it would’ve probably been cheaper to buy the trophy 🏆 & we should have never left The Boleyn as it was home for us fans not customers & no sign of popcorn in sight, the quicker these owners are out the better as they have sold the real West Ham for a poor substitute
Couldn’t have put it better myself. Watched my first game in 1958. Never missed a game in twenty years before moving away. The move to the London Stadium was nothing more than Brady’s vanity project. It is a lifeless, soulless bowl totally unsuited for football. The sooner Sullivan and co are gone the better. They sold us a pack of lies.
‘with the amount of money spent on players it would’ve probably been cheaper to buy the trophy’
Over the last 25 years the above applies to every other club outside of Liverpool/Man City/Man United/Chelsea./Arsenal. The only exception to this was Leicester. Basically only 5 clubs are financially equipped to win the PL at present. West Ham are nowhere near to them .
5 Teams dominating in this way will only change if the Football authorities address the financial imbalances in the game. This is highly unlikely to happen, we are more likely to see a EURO or Global super league due to the influence of mega rich global media TV companies.That will happen, the Americans and global players in this sense have taken control of the industry. The lure of broadcasting to 1 billion global subscribers at £30 per head would generate an income of approx 2 trillion dollars per year. in subscriptions alone, you can triple this when you factor in advertising revenue. West Ham and 99% of other clubs will be inconsequential when this happens..
If everyone wanted to truly change this, they would be better off giving up their TV Subscriptions not their season tickets. That won’t happen
I started going in the 60s never really missed matches at home. I got a season ticket 81/82 and kept to the end of 2012/13. After my wife got over cancer in 2013 I decided that the hammers were not a priority. From the 70s I parked near the Lord stanley and it was a doddle travelling back to benfleet. I went to the Juventus match and parked by Plaistow tube and used my bus pass to Stratford because there was a non resident parking ban from corporation st. Now I thought the view from my seat was ok but not as good as mine in the Rio lower. The trouble was after the match as I did not fancy the sheep dip to stratford and walked back via the green way to plaistow. I reckon going to stratford must be worse than the Upton park ship dip. Now Newham is residents only parking possibly like Tower hamlets and Waltham forest it seems a nightmare. Actually I spoke to the people next to me at the Juventus match and they were newbies.
I mean if you want to round up, that statistic table shows 365,000 season tickets sold.
Taking that 29,000 “lost” figure then it shows that 336,000 retained their tickets.
There’s a reason why “There’s 3 types of lie- lies, damned lies and statistics.” is a well known saying as you can twist statistics to fit whichever narrative you wish to convey.
Clearly this article is going for a negative spin but the one I’ve just used is actually quite a positive spin on it.
Impossible to assess on one statistic alone. All the regulars I see have stuck with it but often newbies sample it and then disappear.
I suspect that apart from age related issues it’s the curious ones who dip out. At Upton Park a season ticket was the equivalent of Willy Wonker’s Golden Ticket so many like me and my family couldn’t get in to more than a couple of games. Now it’s easy. I am amazed when I look around the vast bowl to see 60000 most games compared to an average of 23000 in the Bobby Moore team pomp. My grandfather wouldn’t believe it but it’s now a whole family leisure experience for new generations
Considered and relevant comment, Graham.
Nice to read sensible comments like yours and those of Jeff, Nick, Demon and others.
Sean’s shocker headline put into some perspective.
I reckon some problems stem from when match day was almost always 3 P.M Saturday now it gets changed to Friday or Monday or whatever day suits TV the most. Doesn’t always fit in with fans work life or general commitments.
That’s a bit disingenuous – I went to the new stadium for five years and liked it; but the guy I went with died of Covid so I stopped going. I live 100 miles away, so after 50 years of every game home and away, I stepped back.
I wonder what the renewal rate is for other clubs?
Applauding your 50 years of loyalty Demon 👏👏 ⚒️
In the interest of checks and balance it also means that of the 350,000 season tickets available since the move to the new stadium 320,000 have been retained by existing season ticket holders, which does look very different!!
Please make sure your views reflect both angles!
⚒️👏
I don’t think you can add all the numbers not renewing each year and get 29k and say that’s the number of the original season ticket holders in 2016 who no longer have a season ticket.
For example, someone may have had a season ticket in 2016, not renewed in 2017, and then got a season ticket again from 2018 onwards.
In the maths used above they’ll be one of the 5,500 lost in 2017 and one of the 29k when you add all the numbers together but they’ve actually had a season ticket for all but one season since the move.
People might not renew for a season and then renew again for genuine reasons, e.g. going to university, working abroad, ill health, family commitments, getting fed up of watching shit football etc.
I agree that some supporters have returned after a season away but it not that simple to get a ticket again when you once were.
If you factor that 4,000 managed to joingthe waiting list and get a season ticket again that still leaves 25,000 which is half of the original founders
Considering the fact most games are sold out, what precisely is the point of your article?
The game has changed beyond all recognition over the last 25 years. Fans are way more fickle now and also many are priced out of the game, this affects all clubs it is not unique to West Ham.
Market forces created by giant tech/media companies are racking up prices pushing the game out of the reach of many people. The blame for this should be targeted at us, as we are the ones that subscribe to SKY/TNT/BT/AMAZON etc etc
It would be interesting to know how many of the 29,000 are original season ticket holders from 2016, or more to the point how many were regulars at UP. Add whatever number that is to those longtime fans who have not come to the new stadium either regularly or even at all and would partially explain why we have little atmosphere on many/most occasions. The fan base is changing rapidly. Pack away the jellied eels and get out those prawn sandwiches!!!!
or maybe they are just to old and getting to Stratford isn’t easy It can be frightening when you get that little older Or maybe just don’t like the stadium atmosphere
Honest comment, agree entirely
👏 Too true.
For some, the time/expense is simply not viable.
I am 66 and find Stratford way more easier to navigate than Upton Park. The train connections and its comfort are a million times better than the cattle truck journey to Upton Park.
True many could have joined after 2017 and stayed for a season or two only