West Ham United’s move to the former Olympic Stadium has been described as the ‘deal of the century’.
When West Ham moved into the London Stadium in the summer of 2016 it was against the backdrop of cynicism from rival fans and pundits.
Co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold and their vice-chairman Karren Brady persuaded supporters it was a necessity to leave Upton Park for the 60,000 Stratford arena.
The move has sparked outrage from football fans and the general public with West Ham’s agreement to pay under £3 million a year in rent described as “the deal of the century.”
Hammers fans may not agree as protests and pitch invasions during the 3-0 home defeat to Burnley last month testify.
Supporters are not happy with what they feel are broken promises over the move and the way the club has been run since.
They have also had to endure jibes about being council tenants and not owning their own ground and are constantly on the defensive over the deal.
But the staggering amount the Hammers will shell out for their tenancy at the stadium has emerged after Brady revealed figures in a meeting with fans.
According to Brady the annual rent is just under £3million but the stadium operators also take a further £6million of the money raised at the ground by West Ham each year.
Over the course of the 99-year lease that amounts to an eye-watering 891million – and that’s not taking into account possible increased future use of the ground and added revenue from European matches.
West Ham United Independent Supporters Association joined Brady at the club’s Emergency Supporters Advisory Board meeting last week where the vice-chairman discussed the figures, as revealed in minutes.
“Karren Brady went on to say that the narrative is West Ham United is a rich Premier League club and people outside think they should pay more (for their stadium rent),” the minutes read.
“Although the rent is under three million, the stadium keeps £6m from catering and they have other income.”
The figure is even more astonishing when compared to the amount of time West Ham will spend in the stadium during that period.
At the moment the Hammers have the stadium for just 26 days every year on average, depending on cup ties and progress.
Taking that as an average over the 99 years – 2,574 days – West Ham would effectively be paying out nearly £1billion to occupy the stadium for a cumulative total of just over seven years.
That is only IF the club remains there or the current deal remains in place which remains to be see as the board has previously hinted they could one day buy the stadium outright, as reported previously by HITC.com.
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