London Stadium to look for new solution after multi-million West Ham United update
Dan Plumley has insisted that the London Stadium will need to find resolutions outside of West Ham United to fix their lossmaking issues.
Richard Keys has labelled the Irons’ ground the “Tax Payers’ Stadium” suggesting that it had cost the London taxpayers somewhere in the region of £20million last season [beIN Sports 1, 17 August, 16:55].
While financial expert Plumley admits that the Hammers have got a “great deal” when it comes to their rent agreement, he believes the organisation behind the ground will be on the lookout for new revenue streams.
“There’s an article in The Times that covers this as well,” Plumley exclusively told West Ham Zone.
“That article is positioned in a way that the stadium company itself lost £20million last season so the spin on this is the taxpayers’ subsidy wrapped up within that.
“The financial version of events is the organisation that owns the stadium has lost £20million, it will have an impact on the taxpayer but that’s the way that it has always been with that stadium as we know.
“West Ham are still paying rent of £3.6million on that stadium, they don’t pay for any of the operational costs, the lighting, the heating. It has always been a great deal for them and less so for the taxpayer.
“We know that they were trying to get some stadium naming rights and that deal fell through as Allianz decided to go with Twickenham and went to the rugby stadium instead.
“That stadium, if you remove West Ham from the equation, has always struggled and will need to find a way to generate some additional revenue.
“It’s a wider issue with Olympic legacy as well, we can imagine what may have happened had no club stepped in to play at that stadium.
“It’s always been a tricky one and West Ham have certainly always won, they’re getting a very good deal.
“But now they have to look at what the solutions are at that stadium in the long term that benefits the taxpayer as well because it will be a consistent issue that people keep raising if the organisation that runs it is lossmaking to the tune of £20million a year.”
Do West Ham own the London Stadium?
While the current agreement for the Hammers may not be great for the taxpayer, it has proven to be incredibly beneficial for the club and therefore Julen Lopetegui.
It is uncertain if the deal can change in the future now that a light has been shone on the cost to the general public, but it still seems unlikely that the Irons will purchase the ground because of the Olympic legacy.
In other West Ham news, a George Earthy injury update has emerged at Bristol City following his summer loan exit
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