The U.K. government and London Legacy Development Corp. agreed to allow EPL side West Ham to "bank all of the revenues from executive boxes and corporate hospitality under the terms of the 99-year lease they were awarded to move into Olympic Stadium" -- at a cost of "millions of pounds a year" to the taxpayer, according to Alex Miller of the London DAILY MAIL. It has been confirmed that the government "agreed to demands by the Hammers" to retain 100% of the corporate cash "generated from 16 'super boxes' and a wide range of executive packages." The "key element of the deal" was revealed by the European Commission to the Charlton Athletic Supporters' Trust. The Trust is also trying to force LLDC to "reveal the exact details of the rental contract between the LLDC and West Ham, amid concerns the Hammers move may impact negatively on local clubs such as Charlton and Millwall." The Olympic Stadium will have "double the number of VIP lounges of Upton Park, to enable the Hammers a substantial uplift" on the £18M ($28.3M) a year in revenues the club currently generates from matchdays. The EC has also confirmed that LLDC has agreed to reduce the estimated £2M ($3.1M) a year rent West Ham will pay to use the 54,000-seat stadium if it is "relegated to the Championship and that The Hammers won't be required" to pay £15M ($23.6M) toward the stadium "until they have completed the sale of Upton Park." West Ham and LLDC "have agreed to share the revenues from match day tickets and catering, as well as any revenues generated from a potentially multi-million pound stadium naming rights deal yet to be announced" (DAILY MAIL, 12/13).
