‘Chelsea sponsor handed freebie after deal agreed’

Sun 4 May 2025 13:03, UK

Chelsea have agreed a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal after playing the majority of the season without a primary sponsor.

The Premier League side struck a £40million-a-year deal with Infinite Athlete in September 2023, but the agreement expired last summer.

Chelsea wanted to agree a £50million deal for 2024-25 before being forced to lower their asking price as the season went on.

The London giants have now announced a deal for DAMAC to appear on the front of their shirts for the remainder of this campaign.

The Dubai-based firm has also become Chelsea’s official property development partner.

Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider the front-of-shirt deal is unlikely to be worth more than £1million and is effectively a “freebie” for DAMAC.

Chelsea sponsor to miss out on bonuses

Borson revealed DAMAC has missed out on several of the bonuses that come alongside being Chelsea’s front-of-shirt partner for a full season.

He told Football Insider: “I don’t think it’s worth very much at all.

“You are talking about seven games in total. It’s not worth very much. The way a front of shirt usually works is you’re not just getting the front of shirt for the period.

“You are getting a whole load of inventory at the stadium in terms of marketing collateral. You are getting the rights to be the principal partner on all of your global collateral as a marketing collateral as the partner.

“You are getting probably one or two boxes. You are getting all sorts of sponsor rights to meet players and all of this sort of stuff. You are getting activation possibilities for your customers, so competitions, meet the players and all of these sorts of things that go with it.

“You are usually on the replica shirt for a season, so that gets printed up and that gets seen around the world, and those kits are indestructible because they’re plastic and last for years. You are getting all of that coverage over many years.

“That’s why we can still remember some of these sponsors from over the years because that’s part of what you’re buying.

“You are buying part broadcast media products, and you’re buying part activation. There’s a whole package of rights that you buy when you’re a front-of-shirt sponsor.

“That’s why it’s so expensive. None of that applies to DAMAC, who are a property partner.

“I suspect it’s less than £1million of additional value on top of the partnership or it may even be wrapped up into the partnership, such that it’s effectively a freebie and a sweetener.”

Position	Team	Played	Points	GD
1	Liverpool	34	82	48
2	Arsenal	35	67	33
3	Man City	35	64	24
4	Newcastle United	34	62	21
5	Chelsea	34	60	19
6	Nottingham Forest	34	60	12
7	Aston Villa	35	60	6

Premier League table (as of 03/05/2025)

Chelsea lead Liverpool in race to sign Jamie Gittens

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The 20-year-old is widely expected to return to the Premier League this summer after leaving Manchester City in 2020.

The England Under-21 international has registered 12 goals and five assists in 46 appearances for Borussia Dortmund this season.

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