The organisers of the London Olympics are planning to pass on more than just the Olympic flag to the next host city when the games end in September 2012. Senior officials have opened talks with Chicago, one of the early favourites to host the 2016 games, which could result in the bulk of London's main stadium being dismantled, boxed-up and shipped across the Atlantic to be rebuilt.

The Guardian has learned that 55,000 seats from London's 80,000-seat arena could be transported to Washington Park in the Illinois city and used to enlarge a planned, 7,500-capacity community arena into Chicago's main Olympic stadium.

The tactic of recycling the Olympic stadium has been billed as the first step in a new approach to the games, which could become more like a travelling circus to keep costs down and allow poorer countries to play host. Baku in Azerbaijan, Rio de Janeiro and Prague are also bidding for the 2016 games alongside Tokyo, Madrid, and Doha in Qatar.

The plan could also raise tens of millions of pounds to help offset the rising costs of the London games which have quadrupled to £9.3bn. The cost of the main stadium has already risen from £280m to £496m. A spokesman for London's Olympic Delivery Authority said: "It is right that we should explore any opportunities that would recoup some of the cost incurred by the lottery and the public purse."

David Higgins, chief executive of the ODA, last week began talks with his counterpart in Chicago and said he is willing to have the same discussions with other bidding cities in the coming months.

London's deal with Chicago has become a possibility because both cities have decided to build main stadiums with small numbers of permanent seats while erecting giant seating scaffolds for the two weeks of competition. Talks have focused on how London's stadium might be bolted rather than welded together, ensuring the materials used allow it to function properly in another country and climate, and how sections might fit on a cargo ship.

An exploded view of a computer-generated image of the London 2012 Olympic stadium. Source: PR

It would be the first time in history that a stadium of this size has been moved. Last year, 16,000 seats which had previously been used at the 2006 football World Cup in Germany were shipped to Barbados where they were used in the ICC Cricket World Cup. "If we could box it up and ship it to the next games, that's something that could benefit the Olympic movement," said Doug Arnott, director of sports and operations at Chicago 2016. "We have had preliminary discussions about what London's stadium design team are planning and how it might fit in. This is to do with the responsible use of materials and trying to avoid leaving infrastructure that will burden a city."

Chicago could include the plan to reuse London's stadium in its bid documents which will be presented to the International Olympic Committee later this year. A spokesman for the ODA said: "We have only held preliminary and very recent discussions with Chicago - at their instigation - covering some of the technical aspects of relocating so many seats, but it is obviously good news that there is already interest in re-using them. We will also continue to explore options to relocate facilities within the UK as a priority wherever possible."

HOK Sport, architects of London's Olympic stadium, have deliberately designed the arena as a kit in part. A permanent concrete bowl of 25,000 seats will remain in place for athletics, lower league football and rugby, but every other component could be sold on. Chicago has made staging a low-impact games a core part of its bid. It is using several existing arenas, including Soldier Field where the Chicago Bears NFL team play, and the Chicago Bulls' basketball arena will host gymnastics and basketball. "Chicago think this would be a coup for their bid, and would show they are putting their money where their mouth is on their commitment to sustainability," said a source.

Last week Gordon Brown joined members of the International Olympic Committee at the site of London's Olympic stadium in east London as building work began ahead of schedule. The IOC gave London's preparations a ringing endorsement but London's mayor, Boris Johnson, has pledged to drive down costs.

In numbers

55,000 Number of seats left over after the London Olympics

10,000 Tonnes of steel in London's stadium - it is the lightest Olympic stadium yet

7,500 Number of seats in Chicago's Washington Park stadium after the games, if it wins the bid

$0 Cost to the public purse of Chicago's bid. It is funded by the private sector

· This article was amended on Monday May 26 2008. Chicago is not the capital city of Illinois - Springfield is. This has been corrected.