Olympic Stadium is the target for London Wasps

The England and Wales Cricket Board want to stage Twenty20 cricket at the stadium and Altman said: "We welcome football but it's not solely dependent on football. There are other combinations of other sports, concerts and activities that can also provide revenue."

Wasps owner Steve Hayes wants to sell the loss-making rugby team, who share a ground with his football team, Wycombe Wanderers, and with Saracens keen to spend £20m refurbishing Barnet Copthall Stadium, the way is open for Wasps to use Stratford as their latest home.

Hayes decided to sever his links with rugby when Wycombe District Council turned down proposals for a new stadium on an airfield site and Standard Sport understands Wasps have opened negotiations with the OPLC.

Wasps were originally based at Sudbury before moving to Loftus Road under the ownership of Chris Wright in 1996, in a joint venture with Queens Park Rangers.

He took Wasps out of that Loftus Road PLC company, moving them to Adams Park in 2002 before selling the club to Hayes in 2008.

There have been four initial expressions of interest from potential buyers but a major stumbling block is a new stadium. Wasps, struggling in the Premiership, are operating under financial strictures that can only be eased by the arrival of new owners and they won't be enticed to dig deep unless there is the carrot of a new stadium with Stratford being the answer.

News today that the OPLC are exploring all possibilities marks a return to the original plans when the stadium was being planned.

Then it was felt that, unlike the stadium for the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, it should not be given over to a football club but used for more than one sport.

However, a multi-use venue could complicate the OPLC's effort to sell the naming rights. A company willing to pay for its name on the stadium would want to know what sport will be played there and how many fans it may draw.

Wasps will attract far less than West Ham and there is no knowing how many a Twenty20 cricket match might bring to Stratford. Against such a background, getting £100m deal could be difficult.