The London Stadium faces loses of £19million this year as its owner suggested West Ham United had frustrated cash-raising efforts. Lyn Garner, Chair of London Stadium LLP, this week warned “the financial situation remains challenging”.
Relegation halves rent, taxpayers fill gap
The Greater London Authority (GLA) picks up the bill for operating West Ham’s ground – and its costs have escalated now the club has been relegated to the Championship. West Ham paid £4.4m a year in rent while in the Premier League. But under the 99-year deal signed by previous mayor Boris Johnson, that amount has now halved, with taxpayers expected to fill the gap. Commercial revenues from the former Olympic stadium have also fallen and the GLA will incur higher stewarding costs when the new season starts because there are 23 home games in the Championship compared with 19 in the Premier League.
“In 25/26, we are going to finalise the accounts at around a £19m operating loss,” Ms Garner told a meeting of City Hall’s Economy, Culture and Skills Committee. “This is not unusual. It's been in this ballpark for some time. We have a few peaks and troughs, depending on how many summer events we have.” She added that 25/26 had been a “particularly bad year for London Stadium, with only two summer concerts”.
“This year is a bit better,” Ms Garner said. “This summer, we've just hosted six events, five concerts, and Soccer Aid. That's helping with the finances, but of course, it's one step forward and two steps back because of the relegation reduction. So we're still in the same ballpark of about £19m. We have managed to drive efficiencies over several years. Some big ticket items include seats replacement with more efficient seat moves, utilities around solar, LED lighting, and so on, and commercial deals are much better than they were for the commercial rights that we own. However, of course, we remain responsible for all the overheads, all of the repair and maintenance for a huge national venue, and that's extremely costly.”
Garner: “Absolutely not” to current deal
Asked whether she would have recommended her board sign the current deal with West Ham knowing what she knows now, Ms Garner replied: “Absolutely not”. The football club were asked to send a representative to the committee to give evidence but said no one was available. In a letter to City Hall, West Ham’s interim Chief Executive Officer Karim Virani insisted “they're fully committed to maintaining a positive working relationship with the committee”. Mr Virani replaced Karren Brady who stepped down as vice-chair after 16 years in April.
Ms Garner said the relationship between the club and the London Stadium LLP had “historically been quite tense” but since the change of management there had been more signs of cooperation. “We've disagreed on interpretations around the contractual piece, and I don't think that's any surprise when the taxpayer is under such a huge pressure,” she added.
Naming rights deals collapsed
Ms Garner also suggested that revenue-raising efforts had been frustrated by the club. Three naming rights deals for the stadium have previously fallen through, including a potential £20 million sponsorship with in Vodafone 2017. A contract with a “major sponsor” also collapsed in 2024 because West Ham refused to sign it off. “We had a major sponsor at the table,” Ms Garner said. “At the end, we could not get the club over the line to sign that deal. Part of it was to do with the amount of money changing hands for the IP of the club, but it would have been a fantastic partner for us. It was the closest we've ever come. Really speaking, we have to be very joined up in order to do that deal. I've been asked many times in the past why I don't just give the naming rights to the football club for them to sell. That would be fine if there was a transparency in the deal, and we could get a good deal for the for the public sector and be reassured of that, but there's never been a good proposal on the table to enable us to do it.”
She added: “It's probably not the right time to sell the naming rights, when we're in the Championship, we need to get back into the Premier League. But there are lots of preparatory things that we can do to present a united front in terms of putting the naming rights to the market. Because one of the reasons the deal didn't work in 2024 was because we were not a united front, and any partner coming to the table wants a clean, easy deal where they have a single point of contact and they can get on with their commercial opportunity.”
Ideas to improve stadium and raise revenues
West Ham’s move from its old Boleyn ground to the London Stadium has proved unpopular with fans. Ms Garner produced a list of five ideas to improve the arena and raise revenues. These include changing the colour of the seats from white to claret to make it feel less “sterile”. The London Stadium LLP wants to see women’s games played at the ground and flexibility around holding concerts during the football season when the team is playing away.
