The London Stadium is extremely unlikely to be directly owned by West Ham in our lifetimes without huge hurdles being overcome. Last week Claret and Hugh revealed that costs for the London Stadium have passed £1.2 billion, with £710m of that coming from accumulated losses.
In 2013 London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) signed a 99-year concessionaire agreement with West Ham worth an initial £2.5m per year, which has since grown to £4m per season.
With so much public money invested, no living politician will approve the public asset sale, and if truth be known, no one would want to buy it unless it was for a nominal fee. Onerous contracts also made it almost impossible to sell without paying many more millions in compensation.
Major obstacles lie ahead if West Ham ever want real control
The final obstacle is state aid regulations, EU regulations that prohibit public authorities from giving selective financial advantages to companies, including football clubs, which distorts competition. UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, must ensure its member clubs comply with these rules despite the UK leaving the EU.
It had been hoped that the potential dismantling of the LLDC in 2025 would lead to the London Stadium being leased by a third party, but in the end, the LLDC was just slimmed down instead after losing its planning powers in April this year, and the toxic London Stadium asset was transferred to a Greater London Authority (GLA) holding company.
There had been talk over companies leasing the wider Queen Elizabeth Park and all of the venues, including the London Stadium, but the separation of the stadium from the park now makes that unlikely.
Long-term, the most sensible solution is to lease West Ham the stadium to operate it themselves in a similar model to that Manchester City enjoys.
The challenge to that deal is the indivduals involved. London Mayor Sadiq Khan and West Ham Vice Chairman Karren Brady don’t get on politically or personally, and it is difficult to see a deal being concluded while both are still in their posts.
Khan will not face another election until May 2028, while Brady has been at West Ham since 2010 and shows no sign of stepping down despite pressure from protestors to leave.
Either one, or both vacating their current roles could be the the key to unlocking West Ham’s stadium ambitions and creating the breakthrough to conclude a deal for West Ham to have control.
The current London Stadium contract runs until 2112, when the politicians who made the decisions will be long gone and so will most of us.
That is most likely the most obvious date to transfer ownership to West Ham, but by then, the club may decide to move elsewhere or build a new stadium.
Ok…So lets be positive for a change..The potential gradually to improve what we have is there …Negotiations with current owners and architects can start right now if the outcome is to be a multi use stadium for the future…..Personal disagreements have to be forgotten….
The first thing i would do is make it a winter friendly stadium…Close off all gaps to the elements…Sort the roof….Retractable?….Obviously find a way to get the seats closer to the pitch…It can be done….If we are stuck for all these years in front of us …Then make it a stadium for our grandchildren to be proud of…
If any person ever supports these owners in any way shape or form just explain to them how they signed up.to a 100 year contract in an athletics stadium not fit for football.. ensuring generations of hammers will never watch the team they love play in a decent stadium every other week in their lifetimes.
Could then mention how they sold our home of over 100 years for 30 odd million to a company owned by themselves ..then flogged it in for 10 times that value weeks later…
Build a new stadium in or near Basildon Essex. Already have a club shop there. Lot of West Ham fans in that area.
Build a massive new stadium in Essex. Most of the season tickets holders around me travel from Essex anyway.
The iconic London Stadium will be ours to use for the next 87 years. A home. An identity. A place worthy of West Ham United. In a parkland setting all on its own. Accessible to all. A capacity of 62500 at present and capable of growing if necessary.
Much rather this than Hill Dickinson. Squeezed in. No potential. Loud – grant you that. Purpose made and still disliked.
I look forward to watching my team in our stadium growing with each season. Growing organically without the need of ‘investment’ from rich people from another country only in it for the income.
Living the life and enjoying the ride. 87 years yet to become a sad, grumpy old man.
Come On You Irons
Common sense, as always, from you Taffy
A change of ownership will make no difference to the Stadium issue unless we find a potential owner who has a spare £1billion+ and can find a suitable vacant plot of land in crowded East London!
Think the Everton stadium cost £750m on a fixed cost contract .. I read that if they started now, the same build would cost £1.5 billion .. Spuds £1billion stadium would now cost £2 billion .. Looks like the New Stadium Boat has sailed and we weren’t on it .. If someone stumps up Brady’s £800m valuation for the club, I can’t see them spending £2.8 billion to buy the club and build a new stadium .. The only hope I can see is a Luzhniki-type seat reconfiguration at LS and a new roof, built across from the back seat to retain the noise rather than built up to accommodate those floodlights, which allows the noise to escape ..
So to sum up, in order to move from the soulless athletics bowl we either have to have a change of ownership or wait another 87 years. Let’s hope they s*d off soon then.
And the new owners first job is to pay off at least 4 million a year for 87 years not including inflation before he even thinks about paying for a new stadium.. if Elon musk isnt interested we are up sh@t creek without a paddle mate.