Two stadiums in East London epitomize modern British football.

Olympic Stadium — formerly the centerpiece of the 2012 Olympics, a nest of white beams and angular glowing cubes, orbited by global university campuses and ambiguous creative spaces — will now host West Ham United, a middling Premier League club aspiring to global recognition.

West Ham won a lease on the stadium from the London Legacy Development Corporation, a taxpayer-funded body that emerged from the Olympic ashes. The club pays only £2.5 million a year in rent. Considering some of their players make £170,000 a week, the owners got a great deal.