Most English Premier League (EPL) clubs spend a lot of money to pay for the construction or refurbishment of their home stadiums.
However, while other clubs are using a big percentage of their revenue to repay loans that they borrowed to ensure the completion of their stadiums, a club in North London is seriously saving millions.
West Ham United popularly known as the Hammers landed a deal that is described as one of the “Century” in February 2011 when they acquired the London Stadium.
Also Read: Mark Noble Returns to West Ham, Lands New Role
The stadium was specifically constructed for the 2012 Olympic Games.
According to The Guardian, West Ham only paid £15 million (approximately Ksh 2 billion) towards the construction of the stadium with the taxpayers covering the majority of the cost.
Newham council is reportedly to have paid £40m (approximately Ksh 5.4 billion), UK Athletics £1m (approximately Ksh 136 million), exchequer £148.8m (approximately 20.2 billion), and £40m (approximately Ksh 5.4 billion) came from the Olympic budget.
The North London-based side also signed an agreement to pay a rent of £2.5m (approximately Ksh 339 million) per month for 99 years.
West Ham relocated from their Upton Park Stadium which had a capacity of 35,000 to the London Stadium in 2016.
Although London Stadium had a capacity of 80,000, it was downsized to 54,000 after the Olympic Games. Retractable seats and a new roof was also added.
Tottenham were claimed to be interested in the stadium but their proposal to rebuild it to only cater for football matches was vehemently opposed by the Sebastian Coe, the president of the World Athletics who wanted the stadium to be used as an athletic legacy.
West Ham currently occupy the 17th position in the 2022/2023 English Premier League standings with 11 points from 11 matches.
The David Moyes coached side have won three matches, picked up two draws and lost six - one of their worst Premier League starts in recent years.
Also Read: West Ham's Sponsorship Suspended After Player Was Caught Kicking Cats