Stadium Shenanigans, Redux: West Ham, Spurs, Northumberland, And The Olympic Stadium

New news on a new stadium: Spurs are all in for the Olympic Stadium and would completely makeover the site to suit their needs. What happened to those slick looking plans from the summer? Insert clusterf--k.

This past summer, chairman Daniel Levy introduced a complete package outlining a new stadium in North London for Spurs. "Finally!" probably came to mind for many fans; White Hart Lane has a mere 36,000 seat capacity, and the waiting list for tickets is quite substantial. A backup plan was to occupy the new 2012 Olympic Stadium being built in East London, with either owning the stadium themselves or possibly sharing the ground with West Ham United.

The news that the Spurs are gunning for the Olympic Stadium over building a new ground in North London isn't a very popular decision. Lets count the ways.

1) It's not in North London.

Having a team founded in North London and always playing their home matches in North London, as well as having a fierce rivalry with another team from North London...moving to East London? It's hard to get a fan base to change their match day routine over to East London, when a once short commute for fans becomes a large hassle to get across town. East London is also historically known for West Ham and Millwall. Why bother moving?

2) Tearing down & rebuilding the Olympic Stadium seems excessive.

Imagine buying a brand new mansion, then turning it into a one story ranch house. Or buying a Rolls Royce and converting it into a station wagon. Rehabbing a new house you just bought is fairly normal, but completely ripping things out and making it how you want it is a step that should be avoided. The reason for Spurs rehabbing Olympic Stadium is because it's not ideal to host games; one of the things that would be done is make the seats closer to the pitch. Getting things right the way you want from the ground up makes more sense.

3) Maximize revenue with the North London project.

Getting a larger stadium is only going to be beneficial to the club's future. Capitalizing on the extra tickets sale per match (an extra ~24,000 seats per match), plus the naming rights for the stadium (Arsenal signed a 15 year, £100 million with Emirates Airlines when their new stadium opened), is an economically viable option for a club that is on the rise and competing against clubs with large budgets for players.

Where do you see the club playing games in 2012 and beyond?