As anyone who’s been to a West Ham matchday at the London Stadium will know full well, it’s got one of the best atmospheres in the Premier League. When Jarrod Bowen nips behind the last defender and slots home, the stadium’s roar isn’t too far off the noise it made when Mo Farah pelted over the finish line during the 2012 Olympics.
And now the London Stadium’s atmosphere could be getting even bigger and louder. West Ham has announced that it wants to increase the venue’s matchday capacity to 68,000, making it the second-largest stadium in the Premier League.
Currently, the London Stadium has the seating for 68,000 visitors but isn’t allowed to fill them. The Hammers’ current licence restricts them to a capacity of 62,500, and the club has to negotiate any changes with the stadium’s owner, the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC).
Those extra 5,500 seats currently go unused on matchdays, but West Ham says it now has an informal agreement in place with the LLDC to use them. The club hopes to make the agreement official sometime in the next two years, opening the new seats in time for the 2026/27 season.
Currently, the London Stadium is the Premier League’s fourth-largest stadium behind Old Trafford (Manchester United), Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Emirates Stadium (Arsenal). It’s also smaller than Wembley, though that isn’t currently used for league games.
In order to increase the London Stadium’s capacity, West Ham will need to provide more loos and catering options, as well as pay £200,000 more rent per year to the LLDC. That’ll take the Hammers’ rent up to £3.7 million.
And this isn’t the only change coming to the venue. We recently covered the news that the London Stadium could soon change its name – and that was recently confirmed. The stadium could get a new sponsor by as soon as the 2024/25 season.
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