EPL club Tottenham Hotspur hopes to fund a potential new stadium development by asking fans to "pay upfront for premium seat packages costing" as much as US$85,000 over 10 years, according to Paul Kelso of the London TELEGRAPH. The club wrote to fans Tuesday "asking them to take part in a survey designed to determine the level of demand for premium packages including food and parking options." The survey "offers 39 different seating and hospitality packages in a tier of premium seating that appears similar to the Club Wembley middle tier" at Wembley Stadium. It asks fans to "pay as much as half of the fees upfront to help repay loans incurred in stadium construction." Kelso noted the survey indicated that the club is "pursuing the Northumberland Park development adjacent" to the club's current stadium, White Hart Lane, "in parallel with its legal challenge to the loss of the Olympic Stadium bid" to English soccer club West Ham United (London TELEGRAPH, 7/6).
DROPPING THE HAMMER: The TELEGRAPH reported West Ham plans to sue the London Times and Tottenham "over allegations of corruption during their successful bid to take over the Olympic stadium." A London Times report "claimed that secret payments had been made to an executive on the Olympic Park Legacy Company, the body which unanimously made the decision, during the selection process." But West Ham in a statement on their website said, "The suggestion of 'secret cash' in the Sunday Times article is absolutely and categorically denied. As such, legal action is being taken against the Sunday Times, as well as Tottenham Hotspur" (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 7/3).
