Some might argue that the game changer will be the point when the current owners can sell up and trouser all the profit from the sale of the Boleyn Ground.
There was little profit from the sale of Upton Park as the land value was low; and had no value as a football stadium unless another football club took it over. Don't know when the on site West Stand hotel closed. West Ham were still paying the debt for the re-building of the three stands.
I believe that some time next year they can sell the club and pocket a significant amount of money that, at present, would have to be passed on to other parties. I can't remember the details off-hand, but remember that the old ground was sold without the need to buy a new ground.
They are tenants of London Legacy Development Corporation. This is one reason why naming rights haven't been sold - because there has been a long running dispute over who should get the proceeds of such a deal and how much they should get.
It's owned by London Legacy Development Corporation (part of Greater London Authority) and West Ham have a 99 year lease. However, the stadium is run at a loss due to little other income except for the football and a handful of concerts. The initial idea was for athletics to continue, but there isn't demand for a 60,000 seater athletics stadium. Therefore, there are rumours that West Ham may buy them out
Guess it will depend if buying the stadium outright will generate more money (with naming rights) than the current situation with renting. Depends how much they are paying to rent it.
We passed that cut-off date a couple of months ago, so the club could now be sold without any payment back to LLDC.
Manchester City were expected to beat Chelsea in this final not so many years ago, but the result did not go according to the script,
Pep was f*ing on Bein sports, dunno if it was on the BT sports video feed.
Where Michael Hefele leads, lesser men follow!
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