CHELSEA
Why don’t Chelsea have a shirt sponsor?
Mauricio Pochettino’s team will be wearing kits without a front-of-shirt sponsor when they face Liverpool on Sunday.
Chelsea have gone through a period of upheaval under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
The team’s previous front-of-shirt sponsor deal with telecommunications firm Three expired at the end of last season and they are yet to formally agree a new sponsor.
Club officials are thought to be close to penning a new deal with Infinite Athlete, a technology company, but the contract will not be finalised in time for the opening weekend of Premier League action. This means that the Chelsea will wear sponsor-free shirts when they host Liverpool on Sunday.
Chelsea’s previous front-of-shirt sponsorship with Three was a three-year deal that netted the club a total of £120 million ($152m). The club will hope to increase that amount with their new deal.
Chelsea had proposed deal with Paramount blocked
The Blues would have hoped to get a front-of-shirt sponsor in place months ago, but their previous attempt was blocked by a Premier League ruling.
Chelsea had come to an agreement with streaming platform Paramount+ for sponsorship of their kit of the 2023/24 season. However the league was concerned that the deal may upset existing broadcast rights holders, despite not being in direct competition for Premier League broadcast rights.
However in other fields Paramount+ is considered a rival of CBS and other PL rights holders, sparking concern that a deal would affect that relationship.
The club subsequently considered a deal with Stake.com, an online gambling firm. Premier League teams are currently allowed betting companies as front-of-shirt sponsors but that will change after the end of the 2025/26 season after the league announced a forthcoming ban.
The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust found that 77% of fans opposed the proposed betting sponsorship and the club quickly moved away from the idea.
With the club close to Financial Fair Play limits, and having spent big again this summer, officials will be eager to get the front-of-shirt sponsor deal agreed swiftly to ensure a much-needed injection of cash.