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West Ham lose out on naming rights deal

The renaming of Twickenham as “Allianz Stadium” means that it is back to square one for the owners of West Ham United as they search for a naming rights deal for their ground.

The RFU announced on Monday that after more than 100 years as the home of English rugby, Twickenham will be renamed from next month.  The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) and West Ham had been in advanced talks with Allianz, but the insurance giant has chosen to go with Twickenham instead.

The LLDC had been hoping for £5million a year from a naming rights deal for the London Stadium; West Ham would share anything over £4million. The Twickenham deal is thought to be worth twice that sum to English rugby.

In March last year the publicly funded LLDC’s chief executive, Lyn Garner, told the London Assembly that she was “very confident” it would finally agree a naming rights deal for the loss-making stadium.

West Ham are open to buying the stadium but that was ruled out last week by London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, who told City AM: “I think people need to realise that if you sell off this asset, it’s gone for good. It’s one of our crown jewels.”

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