Simon Jordan shares Karren Brady text on talkSPORT after Jim White’s multi-million West Ham claim
Jim White believes West Ham will prioritise a run in the Europa League this season due to the lucrative nature of the competition.
Speaking on talkSPORT [16/09/21], White said: “When you look at the prize money on offer you think ‘I’m pretty darn sure what they’re going to prioritise’.
“If you qualify from the Europa League group stages, if you’re first [you receive] £940,000, if you’re second, £470,000, plus every match you win you receive £540,000. So if they win the group and end up with a 100% win record, £4.8million. If you win the League Cup, you get £175,000.”
Ex-Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan replied: “I just asked Karren [Brady] to send me some text messages about what they actually get out of these games. She’s given me a breakdown of what it’s worth to West Ham.
“It’s £3million for getting to the qualifying group, it’s £1.1million if you win the group, it’s £600,000 for every win in that group. So if they were to win the Europa League it would be worth about £20million in gate receipts, prize money and so on and so forth. If you win the League Cup it’s probably worth around £5-6million.”
White: “It’s quite straightforward in my view. West Ham, even if they have a shortish run in Europe, it’s much more lucrative than it would be for West Ham to win the League Cup or FA Cup.”
“The bottom line is, it’s incredible that the prize money for the domestic point of view pales into insignificance.”
Money or trophies?
It’s a conundrum for the club, but are the lines really blurred for supporters?
West Ham fans have been starved of any real success during the 21st century.
Their last major honour was the 1980 FA Cup final success over Arsenal, while their last major final was in 2005, a penalty shoot-out defeat to Liverpool in the same competition.
Naturally, supporters are desperate for silverware.
But, with the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea dominating that competition, would a lengthy run in Europe actually hold more intrigue now?
It’s a chance to go away to different corners of Europe, take in the sights and cheer their team on in a new stadium.
On the back of the COVID-19 pandemic that has prevented travel for a long time, perhaps advancement into the latter stages of the Europa League is close to overtaking a cup success.
In other West Ham news, Charlie Nicholas claims David Moyes is livid after this recent Irons incident.
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