Almost £450,000 Wasted on Unsuccessful Bid to Find Sponsor for West Ham's London Stadium
Almost £450,000 of taxpayers' money has been 'wasted' looking for a company to buy the naming rights of West Ham United's London Stadium.
According to BBC Sport, two companies have been paid a total of £447,000 to find a main sponsor for the stadium.
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Two potential deals have collapsed, meaning that there are currently no talks taking place over a potential sponsorship for the stadium.
London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), who own the stadium, have been criticised for 'wasting money' in a bid to find a sponsor for the ground.
Telecoms giants Vodafone pulled out of a deal in May 2017, while Indian car manufacturing giants Mahindra had previously shown interest.
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"Two deals with global brands came close to being delivered but this is an extremely competitive and narrow market which requires significant time and effort to identify the appropriate brands able to enter into such major commercial deals," said a LLDC spokesman.
Controversially, it cost a staggering £323m to convert the former Olympic stadium - used for the London 2012 games - into a football ground
West Ham pay £2.5m per year in rent to use the stadium, however the venue is set to lose a staggering £140m over the next ten years.
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Leading sponsorship advisor Tim Crow has suggsted that the stadium needs to host more non-football based events in order to succeed going forward.
"It's a tough sell. Unless they drop the price, if the situation remains as it is, it could remain unsold for years," he said.
"UK sports sponsorship is the softest it's been for a long time, mainly because of Brexit. Business hates uncertainty and if you're asking someone for a long-term sponsorship, it's no good.
"I'm not surprised at all they were unable to find a buyer. The focus should have been on getting sport and entertainment events all year round to make it much more attractive to a potential sponsor."
