Partner Article

West Ham rent deal at Olympic Park revealed amid controversy over costs

West Ham United are to pay £2.5m a year in rent when they move into the Olympic Park from next season, it has been revealed.

The figures come after the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) were forced to reveal details of the deal that they had agreed with West Ham over the 99 year lease on the stadium.

LLDC had argued that revealing the details would harm the relationship with commercial operators and sponsors, including stadium operator Vinci, but this was overturned by the Information Tribunal who ruled on Monday that the planning authority must reveal details of the deal.

Along with the annual rent figures, fine print in the contract also reveal that West Ham would have to pay an extra £1m per year if they were to win the Champions League, £100k if they were to win the FA Cup or Europa League and £25,000 extra if they finish in the top 10 spots in the Premier League, rising to £100k in the event of a top 5 finish.

However, there will be some controversy over the relatively modest £15m that the Premier League football club have contributed to the conversion of the former £701m Olympic stadium, which Arsene Wenger, manager of London rivals Arsenal, has equated to ‘winning the lottery’.

Following the Information Tribunal’s ruling on Monday, an LLDC spokesperson commented: “We are disappointed by the Tribunal’s decision. Our motivation in bringing this case has been to protect millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money.

“The Stadium needs to be a profitable and successful commercial operation otherwise it will rely on public subsidy. We were concerned that the publication of this contract and the precedent it may set for future agreements could make it harder to do this.

“However, we have decided not to seek leave to appeal, and have today made the contract available on our website.”

Want your business, product or service to be seen regionally and nationally? Bdaily helps you get your story in front of the right audience, every day. Find out how Bdaily can help →

Join more than 55,000 subscribers by signing up to our daily bulletin each morning here.