West Ham told ‘five-point plan’ for London Stadium as Irons suffer new £2m blow

A five-point plan to increase revenue at the London Stadium has been proposed after West Ham United were relegated from the Premier League.

West Ham moved into the stadium, which was built for the 2012 Olympic Games, back in 2016 after signing a 99-year lease deal which sees the Greater London Authority (GLA) foot the bill for operating costs.

London Stadium gets five-point plan proposal

The operating costs for the stadium have risen by around £2 million after West Ham were relegated to the Championship, with the estimated losses for the 2025-26 season around £19 million.

The London Stadium LLP owns and runs the stadium and its chair Lyn Garner has outlined a five-point plan to increase earnings at a meeting of the GLA's Economy, Culture and Skills Committee.

London Stadium LLP are in ongoing discussions with West Ham over plans to hold more concerts at the stadium, improving the atmosphere, hosting women's football, selling the naming rights and expanding food and drink offerings.

The stadium's current licence allows them to host just 10 concerts a year, but the London Stadium LLP are in talks with Newham Council over an extension and they are also hoping to persuade West Ham to play more away games during September to facilitate the extra gigs.

“Our club could do the same if we wanted to make use of the September window for concerts. That's what Tottenham do.”

Garner also outlined plans to improve the “sterile” atmosphere at the ground, adding: “There could be some improvements for how the place looks and feels for West Ham fans. I think probably it feels a bit sterile. It doesn't feel like the home…

“One of the things we’ve considered inside the bowl is turning all the seats claret. It's an easy thing for us to do… but it's very costly, and it would take a long time to do that. But it would feel more intimate and more West Ham-like if the seats were claret as opposed to white.”

The London Stadium LLP and West Ham are also in talks about staging more women's football matches, with concerns over the cost meaning a game has not been held there since 2019.

“We would really desperately like to see women's football played at London Stadium,” Garner explained. “It's not played at the moment because there's a dispute about how it interacts with the contract and the cost of it.

“We'd like West Ham to pick up the cost of the women's games. They'd like us to run the games on the same basis as the men's games. I think we'd all love it if we could get a bit of women's football into London Stadium. And I think that's going to be something that will come out of our discussions.”

Garner also revealed that a deal for the stadium's naming rights fell through in 2024 because of West Ham, stating: “We had a major sponsor at the table. 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.”

However, a deal is unlikely to be struck until West Ham are promoted back to the top flight, with Garner adding: “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.”

The London Stadium LLP and West Ham are also looking to increase the revenue they make from food and drink on matchdays, with Garner stating: “We want to do that in partnership with the club. We get some return from food and beverage, and they get hospitality returns. So it's a partnership that is an easy one to pull off.”

FGG says: A complicated situation

West Ham's time at the London Stadium has been controversial for a number of reasons, not least the amount of money it has cost the taxpayer, so any moves to ease the financial burden are welcome.

However, their relegation to the Championship complicates matters and it remains to be seen how much additional revenue can be raised.