West Ham United vice-chairman Karren Brady has been brought on board to aid the search for a naming rights partner for London Stadium.
The Premier League football club is the primary tenant at the former Olympic Stadium and Brady’s new role in the naming rights process has come as London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), London Stadium’s landlord, is said to be stepping up the search in order to secure a sponsor for the 2020-21 season.
The LLDC last month appointed Joanna Adams as its first chief commercial officer. Adams joined the LLDC from her role as chief executive at England Netball. In the new role, she has been tasked with realising the commercial potential of London’s Olympic Park and its venues, including London Stadium.
The LLDC role is a newly-created one and Adams joined following the announcement in January that London Stadium’s operating company, LS185, had been brought in-house by stadium owner E20, a wholly-owned subsidiary of LLDC. It was reported last month that E20 is losing £20m (€21.8m/$24.4m) a year on the venue.
The Evening Standard newspaper said Brady’s role in the naming rights search is evidence of an improvement in relations between West Ham and the LLDC, a partnership that has been fractious at times.
LLDC chief executive Lyn Garner is said to have told a recent London Assembly meeting: “We cannot sell the naming rights without being hand in glove with the club.
“Now that we have cleared out some of the arguments and so on and we have got a clear path to a partnership, I have asked Baroness Brady to work with me personally on stadium naming rights and she has agreed to do that. We will work together to bring the strategy that brings the best win-win situation for both the club and the park itself.”
Image: West Ham United
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