Spyns clients have been looking into our 5, 7, and 10 day tours focusing on Opening and Closing ceremonies, Swimming, Athletics, Basket ball, and Beach Volleyball. The Olympic Stadium has a maximum capacity of 80,000 but will have 30,000 removable chairs so after the games it can be converted for other purposes.
As West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur football clubs fight over who will take over the main arena it would be wise to remember why we won the Games in the first place.
London was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games because the city's bidding team promised a legacy – for athletics and for east London.Whether those promises are kept depends in part on a vote by the board of the Olympic Park Legacy Company. Members will consider rival bids by West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur football clubs to take over the main stadium after the games. A crucial difference between the offers is that West Ham would preserve the arena, complete with running track, and modify it to suit the needs of a football stadium. Spurs would demolish it and build something more fundamentally soccer-friendly.
Most football fans agree that athletics lanes spoil their view. Spurs says it would compensate runners by investing in athletics infrastructure in Crystal Palace. But removing the track from east London would be a clear breach of the commitment to make the Olympic park "a purpose-built home for athletics for generations to come".
Spurs' main backer is US entertainment giant AEG, which has its eyes on the site as a concert venue. West Ham has event company Live Nation on board for similar reasons, but also has financial support from Newham council, the local borough. That local connection is vital. The Tottenham bid is commercially punchier – who pays to see athletics these days? – but it is also mercenary. Whoever takes over the site will inherit fabulous infrastructure and transport links, funded by the taxpayer. The decision about who should benefit must be about more than commerce. It is easy to see why AEG would like a piece of that action, and why it makes sense for them to make Spurs the vehicle. But
Tottenham is a place, not a brand. Its football club shouldn't be uprooted to chase a nice little earner for the proprietors.
Meanwhile, the promise was of an Olympic legacy for athletics and for east London, which presumably extends to its historic sporting institutions. Only one bid passes that test.
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.
