16-04-2016, 14:19
(16-04-2016, 01:36)spireitematt Wrote:(14-04-2016, 23:51)St Charles Owl Wrote: I don't think its that bad a deal for the taxpayer!! There is some significant revenue coming from both West Ham matches and other events going to the tax payer as well as the actual rent they will get. I think its a bit unfair to blame West Ham or the LLDC for this one, this stadium was built for a very successful Olympic Games and making sure it has a suitable and profitable use beyond that is vital unless it is to become just another Olympic Stadium needing knocking down. Without WHU moving there then this would have become an even bigger drain on the local community and taxpayer, and despite what that honest man Barry Hearn will say, any deal with Leyton Orient was never going to provide anywhere near the revenues that this deal will give the taxpayer!!
West Ham have certainly benefited by not having to pay for the building of their own stadium, but this does represent a good use of a stadium who use was going to be very limited.
The use of the stadium wasn't and isn't going to be very limited as there were plans for concerts, Rugby matches (they played World Cup matches there) there was talk of setting up a London franchise American Football team and they would play there games there. It's used for Athletics, there was talk of Kent, Middlesex and Essex interested in playing cricket on there because of the oval shape.
There was no way Orient would have been able to have the stadium as they wouldn't have filled it but because the stadium is so close to Leyton Orient it could have an affect on Orient's attendances.
Its questionable if they knew that there was going to be an Olympic stadium was there any need to rebuild Wembley? Because the Olympic stadium could have hosted cup finals and England internationals.
And the stadium can still be used for all those events, this is not just West Ham's stadium to use. West Ham will end up the biggest renter of the stadium, but as you say there will be plenty others. As Wakey said, I think this is a great deal for West Ham and a decent one for the taxpayers.