West Ham remain the most likely tenants of the Olympic Stadium, but the negotiations with the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) are proving to be painfully protracted. West Ham may not be able to move in until the 2016-17 season. London mayor Boris Johnson originally hoped to have a tenant in place for the start of next season.
West Ham remain the most likely tenants of the Olympic Stadium, but the negotiations with the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) are proving to be painfully protracted. West Ham may not be able to move in until the 2016-17 season. London mayor Boris Johnson originally hoped to have a tenant in place for the start of next season.
The main issue is money. West Ham, who have debts of £80m, would contribute only about £10m, arguing that it is the landlord’s job to make the stadium fit for football. Only about £2m of the £10m is thought to be cash with the rest hopefully supplied by a naming rights deal. The difficulty with this is that the more bad publicity football gets, the less attractive such deals become to companies wishing to build their brands.
The deal which is now in the table would see the LLDC pay the club’s match-day costs which amount to a six figure sum for each gome game. The club would retain catering revenues, but it would be responsible for operating and maintaining the stadium, although hopefully building maintenance costs would not be excessive.
The Government is concerned about appearing to subsidise a Premier league club, especially after the original deal collapsed after being seen as a breach of EU state aid rules. The longer the negotiations drag on, the less likely West Ham is to get its way. It is hoped that a decision can be reached by the end of the year.
Leyton Orient are still bidders and there is always the possibility that they may make a legal challenge to any decision that favours West Ham, not to overturn it, but to secure compensation for the effects of having a Premier League club move relatively close to them.