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Club World Cup a financial boost for Chelsea

Tomorrow night, the global champions of club football will be crowned in MetLife Stadium, the culmination of Fifa’s new month-long tournament.  Either Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain or Conference League title-holders Chelsea will win international bragging rights (of a kind) for the next four years.

But regardless of the outcome in New Jersey on Sunday, the competition has been a huge financial boon for Chelsea and its private equity owners Clearlake Capital.

Since the £2.5bn takeover in 2022, the club has been on a record-breaking spending spree. According to estimates from Transfermarkt, Chelsea have forked out €1.6bn in the last three years on new signings, considerably more than any other team in Europe. The pace of additions has not slowed. More than €200mn has been committed this summer to bring the likes of João Pedro and Liam Delap to Stamford Bridge.

To help finance all this, Clearlake and a group of minority shareholders led by club chair Todd Boehly have made the most of the Premier League’s financial rule book. The club has sold assets to BlueCo, its parent company, including a hotel and its women’s team, in order to free up space in the budget for more signings. It also turned to Ares Management, the credit specialist investment firm, for an extra $500mn in 2023.

The Club World Cup has provided a significant financial boost, with no strings attached. By reaching the final, Chelsea have earned as much as $115mn in prize money.

The global shopfront of the new tournament could also help in the search for a front-of-shirt sponsor — Chelsea have started the last two Premier League seasons without one. Securing a new top partner could net the club another £50mn a year. The team also qualified for the Champions League next season.

Chelsea had income in 2023/24 of €545mn, according to Deloitte. That number is likely to jump significantly in next year’s accounts.

Additional funds are not only welcome but necessary. Chelsea were fined €31mn last week by Uefa for breaching its financial rules, which are in some ways tighter than those of the Premier League. For one, Uefa does not recognise asset sales to related parties as income in its calculations.

As part of the settlement with the regulator, Chelsea’s owners have promised to improve its financial position and keep within Uefa’s rules in the coming years — or face further fines.

It will take some time to figure out whether the Club World Cup has been a success for Fifa, for streaming partner DAZN and the various other stakeholders. Much will depend on your perspective. But if you’re a Chelsea fan (or shareholder), it’s been a triumph.

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