EPL side Swansea City is in talks to "take control" of Liberty Stadium by leasing its home ground, according to Dafydd Pritchard of the BBC. Swansea Council built the £27M ($33.2M) stadium where Swansea and Pro12 rugby club Ospreys have played since '05. The Swans and the Ospreys "currently pay rent to the Swansea Stadium Management Company" -- a partnership between the council and two clubs. Under the new deal, Swansea would run the stadium, "increasing the scope for stadium expansion and renaming." Club COO Chris Pearlman said that the "current stadium arrangement puts Swansea City at a competitive disadvantage compared to other Premier League teams." Pearlman said that he "hoped" the new agreement would:
- Allow the Ospreys to continue to play their games at the Liberty Stadium "under a structure more financially favourable to them moving forward than the current deal would otherwise be."
- Allow taxpayers in the area "to receive revenue from the stadium for the first time ever."
- Give the Swans "the ability to control our own destiny."
Swansea's American owners have held "unofficial talks" with the council "since they bought the club last summer" (
BBC, 3/4).
