It’s taken a couple of months, but Chelsea are now in a position to be able to unveil their new front of shirt sponsors.
Since the early 1980s, football club shirts have been adorned by company logos, and whilst they’re not universally liked by supporters, they are a commercial fact of footballing life.
Even FC Barcelona, who hadn’t had a shirt sponsor for their blaugrana shirt for the best part of 100 years, were forced to give in, though their first shirt ‘sponsor’ was the charity Unicef, who Barca paid for the privilege of using their logo.
That particular deal stands head and shoulders above any other for its initiative and the positive message that it conveyed.
For the past few seasons, however, even the Catalans are not immune to taking the corporate pound, with Spotify – who were also sponsors of the Camp Nou before it was bulldozed in readiness from a ‘new’ Camp Nou – the current company emblazoned across the front of Barca’s shirts.
Chelsea’s shirt this season, without a sponsor, looks clean, retro and beautiful, but beautiful doesn’t pay the wages of the likes of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia et al.
According to The Telegraph (subscription required), the Blues will announce a £40m per year deal with sports data company, Infinite Athlete.
The news follows the breakdown in talks with betting company, Stake, and the Premier League’s vetoing of a deal with Paramount.