West Ham news: Stefan Borson drops verdict on mega-money stadium deal
West Ham are unlikely to want to buy the London Stadium due to the attractiveness of their rental agreement.
That is the view of finance expert Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider it wouldn’t make sense for the east London club to pursue a deal unless the stadium was available for a low price.
The Times reported on 7 August the London Stadium’s owner lost £20.9million in the latest financial year, underlining the financial burden of West Ham’s home on the English capital’s taxpayers.
The Premier League side pay £3.6million in rent a season but do not have to pay for heating, cleaning, maintenance or even the cost of goalposts and corner flags, while they keep all the ticket money and a share of the catering income.
West Ham are believed to be open to buying the 62,500-capacity stadium for the right price after playing there since 2016, but Mayor of London Sadiq Khan revealed last month it is not for sale.
West Ham unlikely to buy London Stadium due to rental agreement
Borson insisted it’s unlikely the East Londoners would want to complete a purchase anyway because of the long lease they currently hold on the stadium.
“There is a question of whether West Ham would want it,” Borson told Football Insider.
“They have got a very attractive deal right now anyway.
“It’s a deal that’s probably in line with what you would expect in the outside world in terms of a revenue-related rent, so it’s a reasonable deal.
“It’s a normal commercial deal but also a good commercial deal for West Ham.
“I doubt they would want to buy the stadium given the attractiveness of the deal, unless the price was so attractive that it was a no-brainer.
“But they have got a long lease on it, so they don’t really need to own it.
“It’s likely to just end up being one of those legacy costs of the Olympics, with the bill paid for by the tax payer just because there is no real way around it.
“I think it’s one of those situations where people are just going to have to live with it because it’s not really in West Ham’s interest to buy the stadium and it sounds like Sadiq Khan doesn’t really want to sell it anyway.”
In other news, West Ham hatch plan to sign another striker.
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