Hopes of West Ham organizing a watch party for the Europa Conference League Final have hit a major snag. The east London club will play Fiorentina in Prague for the trophy on June 7.
Typically, teams tend to use their stadiums to host a mass screening of the game. Manchester City previously organized a watch party inside their stadium for their Champions League matchup with Chelsea two years ago.
However, London Stadium, West Ham’s home arena, is set for a major overhaul to accommodate upcoming baseball games. The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals are set to play two games at the London Stadium next month. Both games will be played later in June. This is the second time London Stadium is hosting a regular season baseball series.
However, transformations to the stadium will be underway by the time West Ham plays Fiorentina. According to the Evening Standard, construction crews will need to bring in 141,900 square feet of artificial turf. This does also not include the massive amount of dirt needed to construct the infield. Clubhouses and dugouts are also set to be built for the two baseball games as well.
One of the main issues for West Ham is the fact that they don’t own their home stadium. Instead, the Hammers pay an annual fee to essentially rent the arena for home matches. The club is handcuffed by the stadium owners on the issue.
Along with potentially not having an official watch party, West Ham was only given a small number of tickets for the game in Prague. In fact, the club was handed 4,890 total tickets for the match. Eden Arena, a 19,370-seated stadium will host the Europa Conference League Final between the teams.
West Ham is currently preparing for their first European final in 47 years. They last featured in a continental title match in the 1976 European Cup Winners’ Cup. The Hammers suffered a 4-2 defeat to Anderlecht on the night.
PHOTO: IMAGO / Action Plus
