Former League One side Leyton Orient Chair Barry Hearn said that full details of EPL side West Ham's "secret" deal as tenants of the Olympic Stadium "should be made public," according to Frank Keogh of the BBC. The "cost of transforming the venue into a stadium ready for football" has reached £272M ($247M). West Ham will contribute £15M ($23M) but the rent it will pay --
reported to be £2M ($3M) a year -- "has not been made public." Hearn said, "Who is it confidential from? I can't see any reason whatsoever why it should be secret." Hearn, chairman of Orient for nearly 20 years until selling in '14, "wanted the club to groundshare the Olympic Stadium with West Ham and lost a legal battle to have the bidding process overturned." Hearn: "The actual deal West Ham has got is still confidential and our current mayor of London is refusing to reveal details. As a taxpayer, I find that quite confusing. When people spend my money, I rather like to know what it's been spent on." The Stratford venue, built for the London Olympics in '12, "was not constructed with football in mind" and the conversion costs will take the overall spending on the venue above £700M ($1.1B). West Ham has a 99-year deal as anchor tenants, and the London Legacy Development Corp. said that "future profits will see a return to the taxpayer" (
BBC, 6/23).
