Chelsea Move Spells End For ECTS News
Jon Wilcox
20/01/2006
Roman Abramovich sets his sight on Earls Court and Olympia to house the blues...
London's Earls Court and Olympia may no longer have the close ties with the UK videogames industry that they once enjoyed, particularly so given the debacle surrounding events within this country since the future of ECTS and EGN/Game Stars came into doubt. However the news that Chelsea's ultra-rich Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, is eyeing up the area to relocate the London based football club surely spells the end for the nine-year history of videogame events at the complex.
According to reports in the sporting press this morning both Earls Court and the Olympia sites are the subject of an alleged £400 million inquiry after St James Capital placed the complex on sale in December.
Admittedly the event's prominence within the videogames calendar has dropped in recent years, particularly so with the rise of Germany's Leipzig convention, culminating in the last event during 2004.