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Sources: West Ham in advanced talks over £20m-rated off-pitch deal
West Ham are in talks with both Allianz and Stage Front over a possible stadium naming rights deal, Football Insider has been told.
The Hammers have been looking for a possible naming partner since moving into the London Stadium in 2016.
The London club previously came close to agreeing a six-year deal with Vodafone worth around £20million, but talks between the parties collapsed.
German financial firm Allianz and US-based ticketing company Stage Front have both shown serious interest in striking a stadium deal with the Premier League outfit.
As reported by SportBusiness, Allianz are currently the frontrunner to strike a naming rights deal.
Allianz came close to striking a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Chelsea this summer, but they have since turned their attention towards potential brand exposure at West Ham.
The West Ham hierarchy and the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) – who own the stadium – hope to match the £20million valuation previously offered by Vodafone.
The Hammers currently pay rent of £2.5million per year to LLDC in order to use the London Stadium as their home ground, and a naming rights deal would help the club cover those costs.
As part of the agreement between West Ham and LLDC over stadium rent, the Daily Mail reports that the LLDC will pocket £4million from any future naming rights package, with anything over that split equally with the club.
Should Allianz strike a naming rights agreement, the London Stadium will be renamed in a similar fashion to Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.
In other news, Kieran Maguire: West Ham takeover deal ‘very attractive’ after what ‘I’ve heard Karren Brady say’