Many in the world of football finance appear to be coming to the realisation that there may have been more method on Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s madness at Chelsea than they once thought.
A few good months of performances on the pitch are sufficient return on investment for the almost £1.5bn they have spent on new signings in their two-and-a-half years at Stamford Bridge.
But it is undeniable that things are moving in the right direction under Enzo Maresca, who is getting a tune out of players who his predecessors could not – and increasing their value too.
That will be key, as Chelsea’s hopes of complying with the Premier League and UEFA’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) will be as contingent on player trading as they are on commercial income.
This isn’t a new phenomenon. Under Roman Abramovich, Chelsea made more profit in player sales than almost any other club, with an industrial approach to developing players on loan before selling them on.
But arguably just as important is commercial income, with Chelsea looking to claw back some of their vast expenditure through sponsorships and merchandise sales.
But, it is safe to say, there have been some major missteps in this department from Boehly and Clearlake so far.
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A cursory look at the accounts of the rest of the so-called Big Six shows that Chelsea are some way behind most of their peer group in this department.
Chart showing Chelsea commercial income compared to Man United, Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham
The new owners came in with big ideas, and that is to be applauded, but those have yet to convert financially.
The absence of a Chelsea front-of-shirt sponsor is the most glaring error, with Chelsea having tried and failed to secure a £60m-a-year deal.
Any cash they do get for the rest of this season will be far more modest, likely £10-15m, meaning Chelsea have missed out on potentially 10 per cent of their annual revenue because of their intransigence.
And now, matters appear to have gotten even worse in the commercial department.
Chelsea’s owners have been explicit about their ambition to become the first £1bn-revenue football club.
Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have reached the 10-figure juncture in euros but not sterling.
However, if they are to make that happen, they need to stop having the plug pulled on them by their biggest commercial partners.
Chelsea Chairman and co-owner Todd Boehly during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Aston Villa FC at Stamford Bridge on December 01, ...
Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
They begun last season without a shirt sponsor before enlisting Boehly-linked Infinite Athlete.
They also began the campaign with crypto company WhaleFin as their sleeve sponsor, only for the firm to be unable to fulfil its financial commitments.
Now, it appears the same thing has happened with Chelsea’s sleeve sponsor for 2025-25, Fever.
The events company is believed to be paying around £8m per year to sponsor Chelsea’s kit, making them one of the club’s biggest commercial backers.
Earlier this week, Chelsea removed Fever’s logo from their website.
And in the last 24 hours, football business expert Łukasz Bączek has reported via X that the relationship has now officially ended and Chelsea are looking for a new sleeve sponsor.
Whether they have honoured their funding commitments is not known, but it means the commercial department in SW6 have yet more work to do.
There does appear to have been some movement in the front-of-shirt stakes in recent days.
According to one report, that has been verified by TCC, the Blues are in talks with five companies over a shirt deal, three of whom are airlines and the remaining two tech companies.
Two of those airlines are understood to be Riyadh Air and Qatar Airways. The third is though, although not known, to be Turkish Airlines.
The identities of the tech companies are not known.
A detail of the Infinite Athlete Sponsor logo on the Chelsea shirt during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Chelsea FC at Craven Cotta...
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Chelsea recently appointed a new commercial tsar in Todd Kline, who joined from Spurs in acrimonious circumstances.
He will lead both the hunt for a front-of-shirt and, now, a new sleeve partner.
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