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Stadium owners have big legal war chest to fight West Ham

The owners of the London Stadium, the London Legacy Development Corporation aka E20, have built up a legal war chest of nearly £2m to pursue their disputes with West Ham United. I think it would be better for everyone if they stopped throwing their toys out of the pram and tried to work constructively with the club.

Chief executive Lyn Garner told a London Assembly hearing that the costs of staging West Ham matches are not covered by the £2.5m rent it pays (which would go down should the club be relegated). LLDC says that this helps to explain why it recorded a £22m loss.

West Ham said in response: 'As LLDC acknowledged today the losses are due to a number of factors, including the cost of moving the retractable seating, inefficient operating costs and the absence of a naming rights partner. There are other commercial opportunities that they have ignored.'

It is noticeable that the stadium empties out towards the end of games, not just because of what has been happening on the pitch, but because of the difficulty of getting away from the stadium. West Ham got a very good deal on the rent, but the stadium is proving far from ideal for a variety of reasons.

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  1. Unknown7 September 2018 at 01:57

    Let's get this straight! It's not West Hams stadium we rent it, the club offered to buy the Stadium outright which was turned down. This would have saved the tax payer hundreds of millions. The LLDC are now going to waste more of "OUR TAX MONEY" (yes West Ham fan pay tax ) dragging the club through the courts with no chance of winning.
    Please West Ham find a site and build our own stadium and leave the London Stadium to rot.

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  2. Unknown7 September 2018 at 04:47

    Totally agree, we should acquire the Terrence McMillan stadium site off Price Regent's Lane near Plaistow; re-develop it. Plus points are 1) that it's our roots 2) near A13 for access 3) can develop it into something that we want rather than accept something we are lumbered with.

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