'Very, very messy'... Finance expert sounds alarm as £40m Chelsea kit deal hangs in the balance
09/05/2024 20:45
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has highlighted what could be a major off-pitch problem for Chelsea as they approach the end of the season.
Chelsea are yet to announce who will be their front-of-shirt partner next term – a significant issue given front-of-shirt rights are one of the most lucrative elements of their sponsorship inventory.
The West London club have sported Infinite Athlete’s logo on their shirts in 2023-24 in a deal worth a reported £40million.
But there has been no indication of whether the California-based sports data technology company, who have close links to owner Todd Boehly, will continue as front-of-shirt partner into next season.
This season’s deal itself did not get off to the best start as Chelsea went without a sponsor until October after talks with a number of companies collapsed.
And now Chelsea risk history repeating itself as they approach the end of the current campaign without a permanent solution in place.
Maguire gave his view on the situation on his Price of Football podcast.
- READ MORE: Player who almost joined Spurs says Daniel Levy tried to pay just £1.5m of a £30m deal upfront
“I suspect this will have financial implications…”
“The Chelsea front-of-shirt deal caused a lot of raised eyebrows,” said the University of Liverpool football finance lecturer.
“It wasn’t signed off until after the start of the season. All of a sudden, this company Infinite Athlete, which itself appears to be something of a start-up, so you have to ask why it is getting involved with a Premier League football club, they ended up paying a substantial sum of money for the rights to have their name emblazoned on the Chelsea shirt.
“There has been no indication about another deal for next season. The vibes coming from the kit world are that next season’s kit has been designed and the production line has commenced, so potentially you are going to have shirts with no sponsor because nobody knows at the club whether there is going to be a deal.
“So we could end up with a replicated situation as we did in 2023-24. That is very, very messy. From a negotiating point of view, I’d be asking ‘when do fans buy shirt?’ and the big splurge is on the seven days following release. I suspect this will have financial implications.”
How much can Chelsea earn for their front-of-shirt rights?
This is how Chelsea’s existing front-of-shirt deal compares with the rest of the so-called ‘Big Six’.
- Tottenham – AIA, £40m per season
- Arsenal – Emirates, £50m per season
- Liverpool – Standard Chartered, £50m per season
- Man City – Etihad, £67.5m per season (includes stadium naming rights)
- Man United – Snapdragon, £60m per season
Raising commercial income is a crucial part of the Boehly regime’s plan to offset their monumental transfer spending against FFP.
Agreeing a new deal therefore should be a matter of urgency.
