The deal was reportedly worth £20 million in a six year contract
Vodafone has pulled out of a £20 million sponsorship deal to rename West Ham’s London Stadium for six years.
The operator was on the verge of taking the naming rights of the Stratford-based stadium, after years of searching by London E20 Stadium, a company set up by the London Legacy Development Corporation and Newham Council.
Sources close to The Guardian claim the collapse of the deal has nothing to do with a HMRC investigation where materials were seized from West Ham.
The Premier League football club is under lease to use the 60,000 seat venue, for which it pays a basic £2.5 million in rent per year. West Ham will receive 40 per cent of the naming right’s revenue, if over £4 million a year.
Talks with Indian conglomerate Mahindra to take up the naming rights previously, broke down over differences of the value of the rights.
The deal would have a marked a return for the operator in major sponsorships in the UK. It had previously sponsored the McLaren formula 1 team and several music festivals, but pulled out after a review on brand spending.
The London Stadium cost over £700 million pounds to construct with taxpayer money.
Vodafone told Mobile News it has “no plans to sponsor the London Stadium.”