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The London Taxpayers' Stadium Shambles

Swiped from a poster on TFC, because it made me laugh :



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The ownership of the London Stadium is unlikely to ever change hands while West Ham’s current ‘deal of the century’ remains in place.

A senior source close to the club told ClaretandHugh this weekend: “Our deal is so good its better than owning the freehold.”

Some West Ham Supporters had believed that the stadium’s public owners could soon write off their taxpayers’ investment of £750m and look to sell the venue on the cheap.

Alternatively there was the hope that they would give away the former Olympic Stadium after suffering massive running losses but the truth is there is little motivation from West Ham’s point of view to consider that as it stands.

The Stadium is currently undergoing an investigation by Moore Stephens on behalf of the London Mayor Sadiq Kahn and that process is rumoured to have paralysed decision-making within certain departments responsible for the stadium including the application to increase the football capacity to 60,000.

ClaretandHugh understands that the club and stadium owners mostly communicate by solicitors letters, a fact underlined by the £3.3m in legal fees spent by E20 and LLDC relating to the stadium project so far.

Our senior source further speculated: “I think Newham council will end up buying it.”

Newham Council borrowed £40m to fund Newham Legacy Investments (NLI) which is part of E20 Stadium LLP which owns the London Stadium.

Last month a Freedom of Information admitted that no loan payments which are supposed to include 6% interest have been returned to the council to date relating to that loan.

The FOI response said: “The Council has not yet received loan repayments from Newham Legacy Investments (NLI). The loan was made to the NLI by the Council on the basis that it would be repaid over a 40 year period.”

http://www.claretandhugh.info/hammer-blank-the-big-ls-option/
 

There were some quotes a while back from the club about how they were fulfilling their obligations to provide a clean stadium for the athletics ( as if they had a choice!) and how everything removed from the stadium would be stored in a very secure environment for safekeeping.

I would suggest that anyone who takes the DLR to/from Stratford takes a look out the window on the side opposite the stadium between Stratford and Pudding Mill Lane. There's a big open area - kind of a 'parking lot' -full of seats and hoardings. #safeandsecure.
 
There were some quotes a while back from the club about how they were fulfilling their obligations to provide a clean stadium for the athletics ( as if they had a choice!) and how everything removed from the stadium would be stored in a very secure environment for safekeeping.

I would suggest that anyone who takes the DLR to/from Stratford takes a look out the window on the side opposite the stadium between Stratford and Pudding Mill Lane. There's a big open area - kind of a 'parking lot' -full of seats and hoardings. #safeandsecure.

Not long before they have to start putting it back in to get it ready for the start of the season.
 
Imagine if there was an issue and the temporary seating couldn't go back in they were forced to watch from the permanent seating!! Although I guess it would end up costing us(I.e the taxpayer)
 
And now today's financial study about the "London" stadium comes out............hahaha.

Ground share with Millwall
You're gonna ground share with Millwall....
 
And now today's financial study about the "London" stadium comes out............hahaha.

Ground share with Millwall
You're gonna ground share with Millwall....
I've got a feeling they're going to cut their losses and sell it to them - possibly renting it back for the athletics events.
 
Would West Ham want to buy it? The deal they have favours them so ridiculously...
It's unusable as a football stadium, so they may have little choice.

I see them going down this year and the dildos selling to a dodgy foreign investor who will also have to buy the stadium.
Khan will get the money in for London and it will end up Arab owned (liked most of London) as will West Ham.
And they will probably end up being a top half Championship club for a decade
 
Any way for Kahn to force them to "renegotiate" the terms of the deal?
It seems not. Or at least WHU are taking the stance that they have a watertight 99 year lease agreement.
But if there is a real risk of the current owner going bust, then you'd think the club would have an interest in renegotiating. That or be left homeless.

It is clear that significant changes will be needed to E20 if its financial sustainability is to be improved. Many of the options available to E20 were explored in a Board presentation on 6 October 2016, certain of which are detailed below:
 Not transitioning the East Stand between football and athletics events
 Not holding annual athletics events
 Increasing secondary revenue streams through means such as MLB and cricket
 Re-tendering for the Stadium operator
 Selling the Stadium
 Shutting the Stadium

The operating costs of the relocatable seating which now represent the largest annual expense to E20. These costs are in excess of £10m per annum, which is over 300 times greater than the figure budgeted (of £300k). This cost is not just limited to one year, but is an ongoing issue as the movement of seats is required every year, and this level of operating cost is not expected to be reduced without a new solution for seating being implemented, at considerable additional capital expense.

Seriously? £10M pa? I recall it was way, way more expensive than originally planned, but £10M each year to move the seats? (I note the report calls it "relocatable" seating :) )
 
Yep. Any scenario that results in them removing the track would only mean having to pay Levy another chunk - I can't see that happening.

How much could Levy tap them up for?

He got it bang on that it was not suitable for football and must be feeling so smug now with all those people who had a go at him. In all seriousness though we won the Olympic big because of the legacy angle and if you got rid of the Athletics track from the stadium it would be a shambles.

Really impressed by the Hungarians who protested not to bid for the Olympics because of the cost of it, a clever people them lot.
 
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