Let's All Laugh At... Let's All Laugh At West Ham

[spud]

I remember a while back seeing that their match day revenue hadn’t increased at all since moving. Remember their prices are ridiculously low to fill it out, they get no money from concessions, they have to pay rent ( although tiny ) and obviously they can’t hold any non West Ham related events. Tbh it’s more of a PR stunt than some that actually benefits the club.

All thanks to Daniel Levy.

 

[SSC]

You haven't. Your numbers are correct. But your numbers don't make quite the story as interesting.

London Stadium capacity to be increased

West Ham are granted permission to increase the matchday capacity at London Stadium to 62,500.

www.bbc.co.uk

They are aiming to get to 67,000 at some point according to the beeb...

When Rice, Bowen and Soucek leave for bigger things, Antonio's hamstring goes pop one last time and Moyes loses his marbles its going to be a very sad half empty place to watch lower mid table crap. One thing you can always rely on at West Ham is self implosion.

 

[Delboy75]

Moyes is the key he’s very shrewd in the market and will probably find a few more gems. But if it carries on I’m pretty sure someone will tempt him away. Wouldn’t rule out a return to Everton with the new stadium.

 

[YB123]

Moyes is the key he’s very shrewd in the market and will probably find a few more gems. But if it carries on I’m pretty sure someone will tempt him away. Wouldn’t rule out a return to Everton with the new stadium.

If Clarke doesnt get Scotland to World Cup or maybe even after that, he could be tempted by that.

The one thing thats majorly impressed me with him is that even last season for large periods they had no Rice, no Antonio....still coped and won games. Imagine Spurs under Mourinho/Nuno without say Kane/Son/Hobjerg etc

 

[brendanb50]

When Rice, Bowen and Soucek leave for bigger things, Antonio's hamstring goes pop one last time and Moyes loses his marbles its going to be a very sad half empty place to watch lower mid table crap. One thing you can always rely on at West Ham is self implosion.

I think this is what we're all waiting for, the proverbial wheels to come off.

To be fair to them, they've balanced their squad, more consistent quality and less of those contract mercenaries playing 5 games a year for 150k per week. They're a much better team than they have been and are playing with confidence but you're right, the challenge is what happens when one or two aspects of that team changes. Rice looked to be going at one point pre-covid and he'd be a huge loss. Antonio is a great focal point for their attack, dangerous, strong, fast and can occupy two defenders, lose him and where does that leave Bowen/Soucek/others making the most of the space he creates.

Like any club which is punching a bit harder than they should be (us under Poch anyone?), the quality in depth isn't there. We're much the same, scrape the quality of our starting 11 and you're struggling for options.

Key for them is Moyes getting fair run from their board and backing to spend/build, which he's earned. Whether their board now have the sense to do that is questionable.

 

[wiggo24]

Potentially significant.

 

[neogenisis]

Potentially significant.

Guh. Its just getting worse.

 

[WannaDanceWithUdogie]

Fuck sake they must be absolutely buzzing at the moment. Sickening

 

[stonecolddeanaustin]

The figures the Daily Mail quote are 27% at £700mill, which values the club at £2.6bill by my maths which is insane if true, especially considering they don't even own their own stadium. Anyway, his net worth is apparently £4bill so I can't imagine he's going to be putting much of his own money into the club. Wouldn't even be surprised if he financed the purchase with a loan against the club. I suppose he can't be much worse than the dildo brothers though.

 

[DogsOfWar]

The figures the Daily Mail quote are 27% at £700mill, which values the club at £2.6bill by my maths which is insane if true, especially considering they don't even own their own stadium. Anyway, his net worth is apparently £4bill so I can't imagine he's going to be putting much of his own money into the club. Wouldn't even be surprised if he financed the purchase with a loan against the club. I suppose he can't be much worse than the dildo brothers though.

They're a £200 million a year turnover club, run at a loss, with no assets, their value is more likely to be the £700 million quoted rather than that being 27% of their value.

 

[stonecolddeanaustin]

They're a £200 million a year turnover club, run at a loss, with no assets, their value is more likely to be the £700 million quoted rather than that being 27% of their value.

Indeed, they've updated their article now. A shoddy article by the Daily Mail - who'd have thought it, heh?!

I think the point still stands though. A net worth of £4b is nowhere near enough to be a sugar daddy of a football club (unless you're willing to throw all of your assets at it) and he's probably looking at it from an investment angle than anything else.

 

[spursfan77]

Indeed, they've updated their article now. A shoddy article by the Daily Mail - who'd have thought it, heh?!

I think the point still stands though. A net worth of £4b is nowhere near enough to be a sugar daddy of a football club (unless you're willing to throw all of your assets at it) and he's probably looking at it from an investment angle than anything else.

He doesn’t sound like the kind of guy to come in and spend much money. He’s doing it to increase his own wealth not anything else reading this from the Athletic article:

Who is Kretinsky?​

A lawyer by training, Kretinsky joined Central European private equity firm J&T in 1999, becoming a partner in 2003. A year later, he bought a 40 per cent stake in Sparta Prague, the Czech Republic’s most successful football club, and has been its president ever since.



But his first big move came in 2009, when J&T found EPH, a Prague-based company that invests in the energy sector across Europe. Kretinsky became its first chairman, with a 20 per cent stake in the business. By 2016, that holding had grown to 94 per cent and EPH’s assets now include coal mines, power stations and railways in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Ukraine and the UK.



That, however, was just the start of his empire-building, as in recent years he has become the Czech Republic’s answer to Warren Buffett, building a diverse and, at times, surprising portfolio of investments.



Having already bought into one of the Czech Republic’s largest media companies, Czech News Center, he bought 49 per cent of French newspaper Le Monde in 2018.



Last year, he bought stakes in struggling US-based retailers Foot Locker and Macy’s, adding them to his investments in German retail giant Metro AG and French supermarket group Casino Guichard-Perrachon.



In the UK, he has invested heavily in Royal Mail and Sainsbury’s, Britain’s second-largest supermarket chain, neither of whom were exactly stock-market darlings at the time. Kretinsky owns more than 15 per cent of Royal Mail, making him the second-largest shareholder, and almost 10 per cent of Sainsbury, the largest single stake in the company.



And he has seen the value of these two investments soar. At one point this summer, he was sitting on a paper profit of almost £600 million. That figure has likely fallen, as Royal Mail’s share price has dropped considerably in recent months, but he is still very much quids in.



His British energy business, though, has not been so successful, as it appears to have lost millions on bad bets on the prize of gas this year, forcing his EP UK Investments firm to take a £123 million loan from its European parent company this year.



But this setback should not trouble him too much, as US business magazine Forbes still values his personal wealth at almost £3 billion and he is dating Anna Kellernova, the daughter of deceased Czech billionaire, Petr Kellner, who died in a helicopter crash earlier this year.

 

[Delboy75]

Net worth is quoted at £3bn although these figures are largely guess work it’s a decent indication. If I’d been waiting 10-20 years for a takeover and that’s the level coming in I’d be a bit wary and pretty underwhelmed. Although he’s likely to be better than GSB which isn’t very hard. But it hardly escalates them to big boy level.

 

[DogsOfWar]

Indeed, they've updated their article now. A shoddy article by the Daily Mail - who'd have thought it, heh?!

I think the point still stands though. A net worth of £4b is nowhere near enough to be a sugar daddy of a football club (unless you're willing to throw all of your assets at it) and he's probably looking at it from an investment angle than anything else.

I agree.
It's a strange investment. Chucking £175 million at West Ham will have little effect on their success as they are currently overperforming by living outside their means.
There would be better value investing in an underperforming club instead.

The only value West Ham have is if they can buy their stadium. In which case they would double in value overnight.

 

[spursfan77]

I agree.
It's a strange investment. Chucking £175 million at West Ham will have little effect on their success as they are currently overperforming by living outside their means.
There would be better value investing in an underperforming club instead.

The only value West Ham have is if they can buy their stadium. In which case they would double in value overnight.

Especially when you’re buying a stadium that cant be redeveloped and they need a brand new training centre. Liverpool spent £50 million on theirs, we spent £70m, Leicester’s cost £100 million. Those aren’t cheap.

 

[YB123]

Especially when you’re buying a stadium that cant be redeveloped and they need a brand new training centre. Liverpool spent £50 million on theirs, we spent £70m, Leicester’s cost £100 million. Those aren’t cheap.

I've always wondered if an owner could go in, pay the remaining 90odd years at £1m a year off and then build a brand new stadium? Is that not allowed?

 

[spursfan77]

I've always wondered if an owner could go in, pay the remaining 90odd years at £1m a year off and then build a brand new stadium? Is that not allowed?

No idea but there’s noise that any new owner would try and renegotiate. I’m sure as soon as they try Levy will be right in there trying to get some cash out of it For us.

 

[Trix]

I've always wondered if an owner could go in, pay the remaining 90odd years at £1m a year off and then build a brand new stadium? Is that not allowed?

No because they won't own the land it stands on.

 

[FibreOpticJesus]

No because they won't own the land it stands on.

thought the £1m pa is rent only. Not a mortgage to buy the stadium?

 

[riggi]

They will overtake us.