So we may lose athletics use of the Olympic stadium

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.😄

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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."

[Ladyloz]

Guess it depends on how much West Ham are prepared to pay to reconfigure the Stadium further - I certainly don't see any more Public money being available.

My hunch is that under the current owners probably not that much. Of course they could always be bought a la Newcastle / Man City where money would be no object. At least no Russian Oligarch buy outs for the forseeable.

[Ladyloz]

If they do a deal at that price they're monumentally stupid. It isn't just a case of buying them out of the contract which I believe is something like £100K a year for 1 Month's use of the Stadium. But UKA are giving up future additional revenue from the larger capacity that the Olympic Stadium provides. Even selling 35-40,000 tickets (which is only two thirds capacity of the stadium) is more than double the paying customers they could get in Birmingham.

The much maligned Jo Coates negotiated a 7 figure sum just last year when they agreed not to host the Diamond League last summer. That was obviously a one off short term deal and not a.permanent long term one.

[carterhatch]

I cant read the torygraph article... so what is that sum? West Ham would spend that amount on a left back for their reserves, its almost petty cash for them... I agree UKA need their wits about them and demand more - I hope Jack Buckner [soon to be new CEO] is involved somehow. At a minimum UKA must get the funds to ensure Crystal Palace is as good as the renovated Alexander Stadium.