Olympic stadium will compete with Wembley for gigs to avoid bail-out
MORE pop concerts and major sports events are being lined up to be staged at the Olympic stadium in a bid to fend off its cash crisis.
Legacy chiefs are trying to replace Wembley Stadium as the capital’s premier outdoor music location in a series of initiatives to avoid further public money being used as a bail-out.
The London Legacy Development Corporation, the City Hall-run quango, has set aside £ 2 0 0 mi l l i o n in terms of potential future losses at the stadium if no action is taken.
Today, it was reported that E20 Stadium LLP, the joint venture set up by the LLDC and Newham council to be the stadium landlords, was at risk of going into administration. Stadium sources told the Standard that this was “premature” and an over-dramatic inter- pretation of the challenges and insisted they were doing everything possible to avoid requiring more taxpayer cash.
The venue, now called the London Stadium and home t o We s t Ham, has already hosted AC/DC and Robbie Williams, with Foo Fighters announced for next summer. A source said: “We are looking at how we can improve the commercial performance of the stadium by bringing in other events, in particular, events that make more profit.
“The stadium itself runs incredibly well and the World Athletics Championships this summer sold out. The issue is how do we drive the costs down and grow our revenue.”
A report commissioned by Mayor Sadiq Khan into why it cost £323 million to convert it for use as a football ground is due out next month, two months behind schedule.
Mr Khan has discussed the “blue sky thinking” idea of hosting baseball at the stadium, in a similar way as Wembley hosts American football.
The LLDC is also seeking to sell the naming rights for the stadium, which cost £429 million to build. A possible deal with Vodafone collapsed, but other “very significant brands” have made contact.
Action is also being taken to slash the £8 million annual cost of moving the seats every summer to enable the stadium to be used for athletics.
In addition, the LLDC is seeking to renegotiate the £2.5 million-a-year 99-year lease with West Ham.
LLDC chief executive David Goldstone told a London Assembly investigation into the stadium’s finances: “If we don’t fix it, then long term we will be looking at very significant accumulated losses.
“It’s difficult to say we can definitely fix it to a specific outcome, but we are very confident we can make it an awful lot better.”
@RossLydall