Sadiq Khan has officially backed a new multi-purpose arena for the London Lions, giving the basketball club the green light to push forward with a bold vision that could generate a staggering £3.4 billion boost to the local economy.
While the move has been hailed as a major step for sport and culture in the capital, it has prompted a question for West Ham supporters — if it can woke for basketball then why not the Hammers?
Just days ago, Khan admitted he’d be “open to discussions” with potential new West Ham owners regarding the future of the [London Stadium](https://www.claretandhugh.info/london-stadium-bio/). But his swift and enthusiastic backing of the Lions’ has demonstrated that if there was genuine desire from David Sullivan and Karren Brady, The Hammers could also look to redevelop.
Of course, every Irons fan knows that the current West Ham ownership have neither the funds or the ambition for such a redevelopment, but there remains hope that more forward thinking owners would.
London Lions get strategic support – so why not West Ham?
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The case for a purpose-built football stadium in Stratford grows by the day and the fact that even UK Athletics have deserted Stratford in favour of Birmingham speaks volumes. West Ham regularly fill a 60,000-seater ground in the country’s biggest sport, and the site offers enormous redevelopment potential — retail, leisure, residential and commercial. To suggest there’s no financial benefit in such a project is, frankly, nonsense.
With the London Lions already completing the first phase of their feasibility study, they now have City Hall’s technical and strategic support behind them. Compare that to West Ham’s long-running battle with an ill-fitting athletics bowl and a lease agreement that leaves little room for modernisation.
If basketball can unlock billions in investment, imagine what a properly planned football stadium could deliver — both for West Ham and for London.