CHELSEA will start the Premier League season without a main front-of-shirt sponsor for the second consecutive year.
Last season, the Blues played the first seven matches of the season in a plain kit without a sponsor.
Infinite Athlete then stepped in on September 30 and were the main sponsor for the rest of the season – reportedly paying almost £40million for the privilege.
But the American sports tech firm can no longer sponsor Chelsea under Premier League rules.
Why don’t Chelsea have a shirt sponsor?
Chelsea continued wearing Infinite Athlete on the front of their shirts throughout pre-season.
It had been believed that they were going to continue at the start of the season but the Premier League has ruled against it as clubs can only have one shirt sponsor during the course of a campaign – although one change is permitted for charity partners.
Infinite Athlete will remain a club partner and sponsor and have also agreed to move to be the sleeve sponsor as the Blues chase a more lucrative deal for the main placement.
Cryptocurrency exchange BingX was the sleeve sponsor last season but are now the main sponsor for the training kit, which last season was sponsored by Trivago.
The hotel booking service’s deal with Chelsea has ended and it will not be renewed.
Chelsea’s last long-term front-of-shirt sponsor was Three UK, who had signed a three-year deal worth £40m annually.
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The mobile network cut ties in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine – which also saw Roman Abramovich also forced to sell the club to Todd Boehly, Behdad Egbali and Clearlake Capital.
While Three severed their deal with the men’s first team at the end of the 2022-23 season, they remain a club partner and in July became the principle sponsor for the women’s team.
Who will sponsor Chelsea this season?
It is so far unknown who will become the main sponsor for Chelsea.
On the website, American sportswear giant Nike and BingX are listed as ‘principal partners’, while Infinite Athlete is listed as an ‘official partner’, along with a dozen others including Cadbury and Singha.
BingX and Infinite Athlete were previously listed in opposite places on the Chelsea website.
With Infinite Athlete expected to be unable to continue, Chelsea had been reported to be in talks with Riyadh Air.
However, talks are said to have broken down with the Blues said to be asking for £50m per season.
Malaysia Airlines and the Bank of America have also been rumoured to be interested, while the Blues are also said to be in talks with a Chinese tyre manufacturer – although it is not known if this is for the front of the shirt.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
