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Kieran Maguire hails 'fantastic' West Ham deal as £20m talks advance
A new naming rights deal is ‘fantastic’ news for West Ham as it will likely cover their rent costs at the London Stadium.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the value of West Ham’s stadium deal.
As revealed by Football Insider on Friday (17 November), West Ham are in advanced talks with Allianz over a naming rights deal for the London Stadium.
The Hammers have been on the lookout for a naming rights deal since moving into the ground in 2016.
It is understood that they have held talks with both Allianz and Stage Front over a possible deal, with the Londoners looking to secure a deal that matches the £20million value of Vodafone’s previous offer.
The British telecommunications company were in talks over a six-year deal worth £20million, but pulled out of talks in 2017 before an agreement was struck.
Maguire believes a naming rights deal will help to cover West Ham’s rent of £2.5million per year.
“It seems the landlords of the stadium are going to pocket the first £4million of the deal,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“Any excess will then be split 50/50.
“So West Ham will only need a £10million a year deal to effectively be utilising the stadium on a rent-free basis, which is fantastic news for the club as it will free them up to spend in other areas.
“So I’m sure West Ham will say bring it on because there’s zero cost to them.
“Nobody thinks of it as the London Stadium – it’s still referred to as the Olympic stadium in London so a name change still holds value.
“I believe Vodafone did have an offer submitted for naming rights for £20million over six years and it’s best to get in early before the value of naming rights evaporates.
“For example, Bolton’s stadium is still referred to as the Reebok and Coventry’s the Ricoh.
“So West Ham will be quite happy to settle for £20million over five or six years.“
In other news, Bournemouth could land £40m for West Ham target Dominic Solanke