Just when we had given up hope of Chelsea finding a shirt sponsor for the rest of the season, major news is coming out from the Daily Mail that they’re finally closing in on finding one after all.
According to Mike Keegan, 4 or 5 companies are seriously interested – including airlines and “tech companies.”
The reasons for why we still don’t have one this year – and why we didn’t just extend the Infinite Athlete deal from last year – are explained thus:
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Behad Eghbali at a Chelsea match.
Gary Lineker on his podcast The Rest Is Football.
Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali pondering at Chelsea game
“Officials believed that they [Chelsea] could attract bigger sums than were being offered at the time and it would appear as though their actions are about to be rewarded, with performance on the field doing them little harm whatsoever.”
So it seems our winning run and climb up the table are finally bringing in the bids that the owners wanted. Even then, it won’t offset the fact that half this season has passed, so any deal for this year will be half the size. But it does mean that a multi year deal could be signed now, rather than another short term patch to take us to May.
Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali with the Chelsea badge behind them.
Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali with the Chelsea badge behind them.
New shirt deal can be big turning point
In the end whatever happens now, the commercial side of the club has been a bit of a joke under the Boehly-Clearlake ownership. Various executives have come and gone, and we’re into the second of two seasons where we’ve played a large chunk without a main sponsor in place.
But this deal can be a big turning point – with results on the pitch now going our way, we have far more leverage in negotiations. And if we keep winning, we can all but guarantee Champions League football for next year, vastly increasing our potential revenue from all of these sources.
Getting things right on the pitch was always the priority – now that’s looking good, hopefully the commercial side follows suit.
Next up? The stadium…