Skip to main content

Chelsea seek sponsors

Chelsea executives hosted representatives from Saudi state airline Riyadh Air and pitched a potential front-of-shirt sponsorship deal as the club continue talks with a number of companies to grow their commercial revenue.

Riyadh Air, which already sponsors Atletico Madrid, is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the majority owner of Newcastle United. The Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the formation of the new airline in March, which has still not flown a plane and does not plan to do so until 2025.

Chelsea officials, including chief executive Chris Jurasek, hosted a Riyadh Air delegation at Stamford Bridge for Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest. The club then pitched to the airline about a multi-year sponsorship deal for the men’s and women’s teams.

Another contender for the front-of-shirt sponsor is the betting website Kaiyun Sports,  Kaiyun Sports appears to target customers in China — where gambling is illegal — and accesses the UK market via an agreement with a ‘white label’ company on the Isle of Man.   It is unclear what country Kaiyun is based in or who its owners are, which is extremely unusual for a sponsorship deal of this prominence.

Chelsea are reassured, however, by the fact Kaiyun have existing deals with Real Madrid, Crystal Palace and Inter Milan, while the betting firm already has a partnership deal with Chelsea and was displayed on the billboards at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Chelsea’s blue shirts have been blank so far this season as the club attempts to replace mobile network Three. There have been negotiations with Infinite Athlete, an “operating system for sports”, but the deal is still awaiting approval from the Premier League.

Chelsea’s commercial team are focusing largely on businesses within the airline industry, along with insurance firms, technology companies, and the financial services sector for their long-term partnerships.

Club sources indicated to The Athletic that Chelsea will be seeking an overall package of up to £60 million ($75m) per year for the front-of-shirt sponsorship, to include both the men’s and women’s teams, with the club seeking to compete with the Arsenal Emirates deal.

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s
1 comment
Read more

Gold standard ground boosts Tottenham's income

The gold standard in European football grounds is the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London, a £1bn construction project completed in 2019. Its impact on the club’s finances has become increasingly clear as the effects of the pandemic have faded. Previously, the average fan would spend less than £2 inside the ground on a typical match day, but now that figure is about £16, thanks to new facilities including the longest bar in Europe and an on-site microbrewery. Capacity has gone up from 36,000 at the club’s previous home of White Hart Lane to 62,000.  The new stadium — built on land adjacent to White Hart Lane — has opened the door to a broad range of other events that have helped to push commercial income up from €117mn in 2018 to €215mn in 2022. Last year, Tottenham hosted US singer Beyoncé for five nights on her global Renaissance tour, two NFL matches, as well as rugby games and heavyweight boxing bouts.  Money brought in from football has gone up too. Match day income is
Post a Comment
Read more

Spurs to sell minority stake

Tottenham Hotspur is in talks to sell a minority stake in a deal that could value it at up to £3.75 billion and pave the way for Joe Lewis and his family to sever ties with the Premier League football club. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is seeking an investment that values the club at between £3.5 billion and £3.75 billion, including debt. While the terms of any deal have not been finalised, City sources expect Spurs to sell about 10 per cent. The club is being advised by bankers from Rothschild on the sale. Tottenham wants to raise fresh capital for new player signings and to help fund the development of an academy for its women’s team, as well as a 30-storey hotel next to its north London stadium. The financier Amanda Staveley, who brokered the deal for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take over Newcastle United, is understood to be among the parties to have expressed an interest in Tottenham. Staveley’s fund, PCP Capital Partners, has raised about £500 million to depl
Post a Comment
Read more