The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) decided yesterday that West ham was the preferred bidder to become the long-term anchor tenants for the Olympic Stadium. The Premier League team was chosen ahead of Leyton Orient, UCFB College of Football Business and a Formula 1 consortium.
LLDC chairman and London Mayor Boris Johnson said: “We had four good bids, as everybody knows. The bid that has been ranked top is West Ham United. I am very pleased about that. It will, if it goes through, mean a football legacy for the stadium but there is still a lot of negotiation to go on between the LLDC and West Ham United about the terms of the deal.”
However, West Ham has to face significant consequences. The West Ham owners David Gold and David Sullivan, who acquired a 50% stake in West Ham for about £50m in 2010 have to agree to share any future profits they’ll might make from selling the club. Gold and Sullivan, however, stated that they not intending to sell the club.
West Ham would move from the 35,000-capacity Upton Park to a stadium to a 60,000-seater stadium and the value of the club will certainly increase. However the Olympic Stadium will not be open until August 2015. The re-development costs are expected to be between £130 million and £150 million, on top of the £429 million it cost to build the stadium and include adding retractable seating and fully extending the roof. West Ham will be the anchor tenant and other events will be added such as the World Athletics Championships in 2017 and the World Paralympics Athletics Championships. Also, there is a chance that a Rugby World Cup match will be hosted here in 2015. West Ham’s owners David Sullivan and David Gold said that the deal would “move the club to the next level“.
