Nearly £450,000 of taxpayer money spent trying to find sponsor for London Stadium

Two companies have been paid to find a sponsor for the London Stadium

Close to half a million pounds of taxpayer money has been spent in an attempt to find a sponsor for West Ham United's London Stadium. According to a report by the BBC, two companies have been paid a total of £447,000 as the Premier League side tries to find a naming rights partner for the stadium, which is owned by the London Legacy Development Corporation. West Ham won the right to use the stadium as its home ground after their bid won out over those by a host of other sporting groups, including Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient, as well as rugby union clubs Wasps and Saracens. The east London side pay rent of £2.5 million per year on the ground, which will reportedly lose close to £20 million next year, before making an expected loss of £140 million over the next decade. West Ham moved to the stadium in August 2016 and the move has been a sticking point among supporters ever since. Last season saw widespread violence and protests at the stadium, as well as disagreements between different supporters groups, as disillusionment with the club's ownership, something that problems with the London Stadium are seen as an exemplification of, continued to grow.