Converting Olympic Stadium into the new home of Premier League side West Ham United will now cost £272M ($432M), meaning the overall spend will reach £702M ($1.1B) for the 54,000-seater arena -- "a lot more expensive per spectator" than the £798M lavished on the 90,000-capacity Wembley, according to Dan Roan of the BBC. The announcement served as a reminder of "two principal concerns that continue to hang over the stadium: the amount of public money used to make the venue suitable for football, and what some regard as a lack of transparency." The agreement that anchor tenant West Ham negotiated -- to pay just £15M ($23.8M) toward the conversion costs -- looks "more and more like the deal of the century." The stadium's owner, the London Legacy Development Corp., "admits the project is over-budget" by around £35M ($55.6M). The new figures emphasize "just how regrettable it is that the stadium was not originally designed for multi-purpose use." The LLDC points to the security gained by having an anchor tenant on a 99-year lease, "and insists this will avoid the kind of white elephant that blight Olympic parks in former host cities such as Barcelona, Athens and Beijing." It also said that the Rugby World Cup matches this autumn and World Athletics Championships in '17 "are examples of the sort of world-class events" the arena will be able to host, part of a regeneration program that will "create an additional economic benefit to east London" of well more than £3B ($4.76B). The LLDC points to the 10 annual community sports events the Olympic Stadium will host, a new floodlit community running track, a training and education center and the 100,000 free West Ham tickets that Newham residents will be given each season (BBC, 6/21). The BBC's Frank Keogh reported West Ham Co-Chair David Gold said that the club expects to have capacity crowds at "nearly all" of its matches at the Olympic Stadium. Gold wants the Hammers to "worry" the big five Premier League clubs after moving from the Boleyn Ground to its new 54,000-capacity home next year. Gold: "Every time we get an update on ticket sales, they are the best we have experienced. All the targets we have set ourselves are being met." Gold points to "improved transport links, location and facilities as reasons why he believes the new ground will be attractive to spectators." He said that many season tickets "would be the cheapest in the Premier League" to "encourage younger fans" (BBC, 6/19).
