West Ham in dispute with London Stadium landlords over extra seating
Thursday 14 December 2017 10:16, UK
West Ham are locked in a legal battle with their landlords over plans to extend the London Stadium.
The maximum capacity is 66,000 but due to regulations, only 57,000 seats are allowed to be used on match days.
West Ham have asked for those seats to be made available which would make it the second largest football stadium in the capital behind Wembley.
However, details of the disagreement over the plans were revealed during a meeting at the London Assembly.
Acting chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), Gerry Murphy, said: "There is a dispute with West Ham about what the contract says in terms of capacity.
"West Ham have absolutely said that they want to increase the capacity to 60,000. And actually they want to further increase the capacity to 66,000.
"LLDC and E20 (the landlords) disagree with their interpretation of the contract.
"We feel that actually if West Ham want to enjoy more seats then they should commensurately pay more.
"West Ham's argument is they would receive all of the extra revenue from the extra seats. We would contend we should get a share of that.
"And that's the gist of the disagreement between us and it is subject to legal proceedings."
West Ham are the lead tenants of the former Olympic Stadium and pay £2.5m per year under the terms of their lease.
The LLDC receive a flat fee from the tenancy agreement, plus a share of the catering revenue.
A West Ham statement said: "West Ham is seeking use of all seats in London Stadium to initially reach a capacity of 60,000, as was promised publicly to our supporters by all London Stadium stakeholders.
"The seats in question are not 'additional' or 'extra'. These seats are in London Stadium already, have always been there, and have already been paid for under the terms of our Concession Agreement.
"Having sought a resolution of this matter for many months, West Ham are seeking a legal declaration because we have almost 50,000 patient and loyal fans on our season ticket waiting list who are being denied the opportunity to support their team.
"We wish to make the stadium accessible to all supporters in our community through our firm commitment to affordable family football.
"The benefits of West Ham United using all available seats to E20 and the taxpayer are tangible, generating a range of additional revenue, including the vast majority of catering revenue, which generated £6m of income for E20 last season from West Ham matches alone, whilst also bringing a significant increase in visitors to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.''
