By Paul Nicholson
April 28 – West Ham have responded swiftly to a call by a Charlton Athletic supporters group for a review of the rental agreement on the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, London, saying that their bid was the best option both for London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) and that this was the best deal on the table for the taxpayer.
Charlton Athletic Supporters Trust (CAST) claimed that the current agreement favours West Ham to the degree that it disadvantages Charlton Athletic commercially, hence affecting its ability to trade in a free market.
“We believe that the terms of the agreement put far too much financial burden on the taxpayer; and that as a result West Ham will feel able to offer heavily discounted tickets south of the river in Charlton’s catchment area, which is now well connected to the Olympic stadium thanks to the transport links built for the games,” said a CAST statement.
West Ham have responded robustly with a spokesman saying: “The Club was selected as anchor concessionaire following a fair, transparent and robust process that was open to any group or organisation in the country. Out of the four proposals submitted, West Ham’s was selected as it delivered a sustainable and viable future for the Stadium and, crucially, provided the best return for the taxpayer.
“The agreement with the LLDC will see West Ham make a substantial capital contribution towards the conversion works of a Stadium that it may only rent for up to 25 match days a year, pay a multimillion pound annual usage fee, as well as offering a share of food and catering sales from its supporters.”
West Ham is contributing £15 million to the £296 million reconstruction of the stadium and paying an estimated £2-2.5 million in rent a year. But it is the potential for other revenue that a Premier League club can bring that is particularly interesting for the LLDC which retains the naming rights to the stadium.
Naming rights to iconic stadia seldom come available and though London’s Olympic Stadium was only completed for the 2012 Olympic Games, it is one of the world’s leading arenas and would command a premium, perhaps as much as £15-20 per annum in a long term deal. Real Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium naming rights are estimated to have been sold for €20 million per season.
“The worldwide draw of hosting the most popular and watched football league in the world in such an iconic venue will add value to any sponsorship and commercial agreements related to the Stadium, which the public purse stands to further benefit from. It is clear that the linking of the naming rights to West Ham United generates real cash value for the LLDC,” said the West Ham spokesman.
“Without West Ham United, the Stadium would continue to cost the taxpayer millions of pounds a year. With us, the public purse will see a return on the hundreds of millions of pounds that were committed to build the Stadium, long before West Ham’s association had begun.”
The 80,000 all-seat stadium cost over £650 million to build after a series of poor public spending decisions on the design and purpose for the stadium post the 2012 Olympics Games. After it has been reconfigured it will have a capacity of 54,000. West Ham’s Boleyn Ground has a capacity of 35,000 which the club currently sells out.
The fear of CAST is that with the extra ticket availability, West Ham will market cheaper tickets to fill the stadium and draw fans away from the Championship club to the Premier League club. Certainly there is a demand from fans for cheaper tickets for Premier League matches and West Ham has made a commitment that it would make available cheaper tickets once the new bumper TV deal start in 2016.
Whether those tickets are picked up by Charlton fans upgrading to watch a Premier League team, or by West Ham fans taking the opportunity to watch matches at the Olympic Stadium remains to be seen. For their part West Ham have indicated they have no intention of targeting Charlton fans to fill the increased capacity.
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