Lord Mayor runs with ‘Londoners should be hoping West Ham stay up’ message

The race to stay in the Premier League became ever more real last night as Tottenham dropped points at home against Leeds. The Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, has, of course, weighed in on the matter. Why wouldn’t he? He loves to be in the press.

West Ham United rents the London Stadium, once the Olympic Stadium, from the London Legacy Development Corporation, which is City Hall. Their current Premier League deal sees them pay around £4.4 million per year in rent. If relegated to the Championship, the lease agreement halves that rent.

This equates to roughly £2–2.5 million loss per year to the public purse. Lower league status could also reduce other revenues and potentially increase costs for the stadium operators.

“What I’d say to Londoners who don’t support Spurs is you should probably be cheering on West Ham. The previous Mayor, Boris Johnson, did the worst deal that can be imaginable. As far as West Ham are concerned, as a deal of the century when he basically gave them rent-free, this amazing stadium for 100 years.

Now if West Ham are relegated, we, the taxpayers, we at City Hall, could lose up to 2.5m a year. So what I say to Londoners who don’t support Spurs is you should probably be cheering on West Ham, because the taxpayer will lose out if West Ham go down.”

A West Ham relegation would sting London taxpayers, while Spurs fans might see ironic humour in the Mayor backing their rivals.
It’s a classic case of the messy legacy of the Olympic Stadium deal, which has long been controversial for West Ham and London taxpayers.