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Taxpayers To Meet Running Costs When West Ham Moves To Olympic Stadium

EPL side West Ham "will have many of the running costs met by the taxpayer" when it moves to the £700M Olympic Stadium next year, according to the BBC. Critics say that it means the club will get its new home "virtually rent free." The public authority that owns the stadium, the London Legacy Development Corp., "revealed some details of its rental agreement with the club in response to a Freedom of Information request." Much of the contract between LLDC and West Ham "is redacted." But it does show that a large number of "facilities and services" will be paid for by the grantor -- i.e. the taxpayer -- and not the club. These "include the cost of stadium utilities, security, maintaining the pitch, and even the goalposts and corner flags." Two separate football business experts said that the value of the services amounts to between £1.4M ($2.1M) and £2.5M ($3.8M) a year. West Ham, which received more than £76M ($117M) in prize money for finishing 12th in the Premier League last season, is understood to be paying approximately £2M ($3.1M) to £2.5M a year in rent. Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport Chris Bryant called on the government "to publish all the details of the deal or he will join calls for a full public inquiry." He said, "To all intents and purposes, this is a contract which gives West Ham the stadium at a peppercorn rent at most or, to be honest, for no rent whatsoever" (BBC, 8/5). In London, James Riach wrote West Ham’s co-Chair David Gold wrote "you are badly misinformed" on Twitter when responding to a suggestion that taxpayers will foot the bill for policing and stewarding costs at the stadium from the '16-17 season, and the club released a statement saying that "the taxpayer would benefit from food and beverage sales at the Olympic Stadium as well as from any naming rights deal" (GUARDIAN, 8/6).

WEST HAM DEFENDS MOVE: Also in London, Gary Jacob wrote West Ham has "vigorously defended" itself over its tenancy deal. The club contributed £15M toward the final bill for reconstructing the Olympic Stadium, "which will be largely met by the taxpayer, and will not need to make a further payment despite the overall cost spiralling in excess" of £700M. West Ham said that its move "will benefit the Stratford area in east London" and that, without it, there would be no athletics legacy for the stadium. The club said, "It should be remembered that during a fair, open and robust process that was open to any party or organisation in the world, West Ham United were chosen as the group that delivered the best long-term, viable future for the stadium and the best return for the taxpayer. ... Our move to Stratford will also create more than 700 jobs, provide over a million visitors to the Park each year and an opportunity to help tens of thousands more disadvantaged youngsters through the expansion of our West Ham United Foundation" (LONDON TIMES, 8/6). West Ham said, “Without us, the stadium would lose money. The suggestion we are getting the stadium rent free is categorically wrong -- we are more than paying our way. Our agreement with the LLDC will see West Ham make a substantial capital contribution towards the conversion works of a stadium on top of a multi-million pound annual usage fee, a share of food and catering sales, plus provide extra value to the naming rights agreement" (London TELEGRAPH, 8/6).

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