Chelsea are at risk of being without a shirt sponsor at the start of the Premier League season for the second year in a row, having yet to find a partner.
A partnership with Three ended after the 2022/23 season and Chelsea did not reach a deal with Infinite Athlete to take over as a front of shirt sponsor until late September. By then, the Blues had already played eight games across the Premier League and Carabao Cup in a sponsor-less shirt.
It was only a one-year contract but, amid confusion in May, it was thought that Infinite Athlete, a sports data tech firm, would continue into a second season. Shirts worn by the players during pre-season friendlies have featured Infinite Athlete’s name, but Chelsea’s 2024/25 kits are sold without.
With Infinite Athlete is already in place to be this season’s sleeve sponsor, Chelsea will be hoping to secure a more lucrative arrangement for the front of the shirt.
The Sun reports that no new deal has yet been found and that the club are expected to ditch Infinite Athlete from the front of shirts when the Premier League season begins due to rules not allowing a change in sponsor, in-season, except in certain circumstances. Each club can make a temporary change once during a campaign to promote a charitable partner, while sponsors hitting financial difficulty can also permit a switch, as happened with West Ham United in both 2008 and 2015.
Starting the season sponsor-less at least gives Chelsea more time to find a new shirt partner. Their 12-month deal with Infinite Athlete to cover last season was worth a reported £40m.
The suggestion is that failure to qualify for the Champions League, only able to offer the less attractive Conference League as a platform for potential brands, has hurt the search. Chelsea haven’t played in Europe’s top competition since 2023 and won’t do again until at least 2025 due to successive Premier League finishes outside the all-important top four.
Meanwhile, Manchester United have headed the opposite way as they look to use their famous shirt to make to generate as much revenue as possible. The shirts the Red Devils wore in Saturday’s Community Shield featured Microsoft CoPilot + PCs branding below the number. United won’t be allowed to display the sponsor in the Premier League or Europa League as per competition rules, but they can use it for WSL, academy, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Conti Cup fixtures.