West Ham are embroiled in a legal dispute with landlords at the London Stadium regarding a push for 3,000 extra seats, it what has become the latest controversy in the Hammers’ rented home.
The East London side started a £2.5m-per-year 99-year lease contract last season and wish to add a further 9,000 seats to the stadium, as they seek to take the capacity beyond 60,000; as was promised to London Stadium shareholders before they made the move away from Upton Park.
Currently with a capacity of 57,000, West Ham’s first wish is to expand the stadium by 3,000 but there’s a clash regarding logistics, as an argument with the LLDC centres around the cost of the expansion and where the revenue from those sales will go.
“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) disagrees with their interpretation of the contract. We feel that actually if West Ham want to enjoy more seats then they should commensurately pay more. And that’s the gist of the disagreement between us and it is subject to legal proceedings.”
Meanwhile, West Ham have also issued a statement which reads:
“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 United are seeking a legal declaration.”
