So we may lose athletics use of the Olympic stadium

[stirling]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletic...rystal-palace/

"If UK Athletics relinquishes rights to the London Stadium, it would be embarrassing not to have an elite-level venue in the capital city. Redeveloping Crystal Palace would create a far greater Olympic athletics legacy than the London Stadium ever could."

[Chafford1]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletic...rystal-palace/

"If UK Athletics relinquishes rights to the London Stadium, it would be embarrassing not to have an elite-level venue in the capital city. Redeveloping Crystal Palace would create a far greater Olympic athletics legacy than the London Stadium ever could."

Can't access the article but agree with that with the caveat that a 2017 style World Championships would no longer be possible. Redevelopment of Crystal Palace to provide a credible international venue will cost much more than the £10-15m mentioned in the Telegraph this week for the UKA deal.

[treadwater1]

Attempting to negotiate something like this when it’s been well documented that UKA have struggled financially due to COVID and the inability to attract big sponsorship deals and tv deals is very poor. West Ham can low-ball UKA when they know they are in a difficult position. Coupled with the fact that Buckner has only appointed a few weeks ago it’s being mismanaged by the looks of it

[Ladyloz]

Attempting to negotiate something like this when it’s been well documented that UKA have struggled financially due to COVID and the inability to attract big sponsorship deals and tv deals is very poor. West Ham can low-ball UKA when they know they are in a difficult position. Coupled with the fact that Buckner has only appointed a few weeks ago it’s being mismanaged by the looks of it

Yes, this is a concern. A lot of people welcomed Buckner's appointment due to his athletics background. But I always felt that it was far more important to have someone who was commercially savvy and capable of getting those TV & sponsorship deals as Chief Executive.

Karren Brady et al negotiated a very favourable deal for West Ham with the Stadium lease and clearly run rings around Boris and his team. Let's hope history doesn't repeat itself. We need tough negotiators dealing with this. If Buckner isn't capable.at least get some consultants on board who can.

[Chafford1]

Attempting to negotiate something like this when it’s been well documented that UKA have struggled financially due to COVID and the inability to attract big sponsorship deals and tv deals is very poor. West Ham can low-ball UKA when they know they are in a difficult position. Coupled with the fact that Buckner has only appointed a few weeks ago it’s being mismanaged by the looks of it

West Ham want to develop a football-specific 66,000 capacity stadium. UKA should make it clear that they are happy with the current 50 year deal, name their price for terminating this deal and if West Ham refuse to negotiate, walk away.

[philipo]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletic...rystal-palace/

"If UK relinquishes rights to the London Stadium, it would be embarrassing not to have an elite-level venue in the capital city. Redeveloping Crystal Palace would create a far greater Olympic athletics legacy than the London Stadium ever could."

Agreed!! CP is far more relevant to athletics and the interest and support it engenders than the Olympic Stadium.Not to have decent facility for athletics in London is pretty pathetic.

[philipo]

I thought I replied to the erroneous statement that a Stadium of Alexander's size is not big enough for a WC .
The Haywards Field stadiumfor this years WC is a 12600 seater built up with extra seats to supposedly 30,000 for the WC. Which latter final figure is considered à spin doctor figure by some fans on t and f forum Alexander Stadium is eminently suited to a WC with temporary seating bolstered to 30K as it will be fo the CG.

[Biggut]

The Alexander Stadium redevelopment allows for up to 40,000 seat capacity not 30.

[philipo]

Where the Ladyloz 40 K figure comes from for a European champs or even the WC , is strange if this years WC stadium is anything to go by. Maybe apart from the CG stadium, the labour admin in county hall can find 100 mill for the Crystal Palace.😄

[trickstat]

I strongly suspect that WA/IAAF have 'bent' their own guidelines for Eugene as they are so keen/desperate to have a World Champs in the US.

As I understand it, Crystal Palace is not a county hall responsibility and is the responsibility of the London Borough it falls in. Perhaps unfortunately, the park forms the most north-westerly part of the Borough of Bromley which is the largest Borough by area and it is relatively remote from most of the Borough. I think this has definitely not helped the stadium. The Boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham all border the edge of the park.

I am quietly hopeful that the announcement of investment in the swimming facilities at CP are an indicator that the stadium will be seen as something that is worth modernising and maintaining. Amongst other things, the expansion of the London Overground makes it much easier to get to and from than used to be the case from north of London.

[Ladyloz]

Where the Ladyloz 40 K figure comes from for a European champs or even the WC , is strange if this years WC stadium is anything to go by. Maybe apart from the CG stadium, the labour admin in county hall can find 100 mill for the Crystal Palace.😄

I wasn't really talking about what the minimum requirements are as specified by World or European Athletics. I am not sure what they are and that's not what concerns me.

As has been consistently shown with London 2012; London 2017 World Champs and Commonwealth Games in Manchester; Glasgow and this year in Birmingham British fans will come out in force when we host a major championships.

IMO if we are to host Europeans for the first time or Worlds again it needs to be in a Stadium that satisfies demand to a large extent. It also costs money to host these events so you need a larger capacity to boost revenue to pay for it and ideally make some kind of a profit from which you can reinvest back into the sport.

[Ursus]

Alexander Stadium is eminently suited to a WC

Except that it’s in Birmingham.

That’s not meant to be facetious, but I’d very surprised if any future UK global was anywhere but London - just the way these things work. But anyhow I think it will be a long time before we see another global on these shores by which time the conversation will have moved on again.

But it would make a lot of sense to redevelop the Palace so that it could be expanded with temporary seating.

[Biggut]

Because of course Birmingham has no place in world athletics having hosted Diamond leagues, 2 World Indoors, a Euro Indoors, the European Cup, the World Half Marathon Champs and the International Cross Country Championships.

The maximum capacity of 40k is clearly not co-incidence. Birmingham is well connected and has a history in the sport. It’s an ideal candidate for Euros in particular and the Commonwealths will be an excellent event to market its potential.

We really don’t need another massive stadium that lies empty most of the time anywhere in the country. Perhaps a 5-10,000 seater in London would be a decent addition but above that I just see it as a waste of money.

[Chafford1]

Incorrect as to capacity rules by WA The seat capacity of the Stadium for this years WC in Eugene is 12,600 so I am reliably informed. A temporary increase is discussed inconclusive by posters on t and f Forum varying from 7000 or ,18,000 which I dont believe.The Alexander Stadium will have a capacity after the CG of 18,000 and can be increased to 30 K for major champs. There is no reason why Birmingham cannot be suitable for a WC.
The London Olympics Stadium is a bit too large for all but the globals,imo, but West Ham spent years slagging off the Stadium as being useless for football, but now it's all different. Hypocrites, crooked and money mad, just as you might expect of,Soccer in this country

The Sports Examiner website has calculated Hayward Field capacity as 16,500 for this year's WCs.

[JamieSLA]

Whilst I wouldn't say i'm glad.. watching the worlds there in 2017 was so frustrating. Ended up having BBC coverage on my phone alongside it as I couldn't tell who was where in most events.

[carterhatch]

There was a great posting by Laps between #26 - [that is to say, I cant see it anymore] - which, among expressing very articulatly many of the realities of the situation, reminds folk that West Ham do not own the stadium, and so any negotiations to change the status quo are led by the LLDC ...

[Laps]

Stupidly I tried to edit it a second time within a few minutes and so it is in "unapproved" greenland at the mo. So repeated below.

[Laps]

UK Athletics will be negotiating with LDDC not West Ham United. LDDC bear all the costs (£3 million apparently) of switching from football mode to athletics mode and back again. There is a negotiating position there for LDDC to avoid this major cost but I don't believe that it is as strong as some think. My guess is that West Ham will play it cool, take a back seat and wait for the inevitable to happen. They have become reconciled to the unsuitability of their stadium as it is, for time being. Permitted capacity is now up with Spurs and Arsenal. What's not to like about 60,000+ every match and at last a winning team.

The Olympic Stadium has steadily receded from iconic, much-loved venue to a bit of an embarassment for athletics imo. It seems unlikely that athletics could even half fill it unless an Olympics or World Championship comes along again. The cost to the public purse for so little sport and so few spectators will eat away at public and political support. The last Anniversary Games in the stadium, 2019, only attracted around 15,000 spectators on the Saturday and 25,000 on the Sunday. A product partly of high ticket prices itself a consequence of trying to make a profit/or at least limit the loss. The meeting's popularity was quickly waning when Covid intervened. The public no longer drawn to the Olympic stadium to the same degree, and with no GB superstars to cheer on.

Negotiating this and the politics that go with it will be very tricky for UK Athletics. I don't envy them.

[carterhatch]

Cheers, Laps, for reposting.

[Chafford1]

Reported this morning that the London Stadium will be the venue for baseball over the next few summers with seats being removed. MLB to pay for the costs of altering the Stadium.