Chelsea FC have officially announced a new deal that will help make up the revenue shortfall from missing out on UEFA Champions League. According to FOX Sports, Chelsea FC:
Nike will take over as Chelsea’s official sportswear supplier next season in what the English Premier League club says is the “largest commercial deal” in its history. Chelsea said Thursday that it is a “long-term agreement” with Nike.
British media are reporting the Nike deal to be worth about $75 million (£61.4 million) a season for Stamford Bridge.
“Telegraph Sport understands the deal with Nike is worth double to Chelsea than their old £30m-a-year sponsorship deal with Adidas, which the club last week confirmed will come to an end this season.”
The new agreement for the West London side will begin in the summer of 2017, and it places them second behind Manchester United’s record breaking £75 million ($108M) annual deal with Adidas. Chelsea FC are also way ahead of third-place Bayern Munich’s $61 million-a-year deal and fourth place Real Madrid’s $49 million annual, although Los Blancos will soon renegotiate with Nike or Adidas and that could potentially suprass everyone.
The Blues are also way ahead of their fellow Londoners Arsenal, who receive $43 million per year from Arsenal. The Chelsea FC deal with Nike is the brand’s most expensive contract to date well ahead of the $40 million per year that they pay Barcelona.
Chelsea ran away with the Premier League title a year ago. They just dominated, start to finish, and they never really had any competition for the league championship in 2014-15.
However, they also probably had perhaps the worst title defense in history this season, coming out of the gates way more poorly than anyone could have ever imagined.
They recovered enough to finish mid table, but they were never in the running for a top four finish. Missing out on Europe will cost the club tens of millions of pounds, but this is a nice way to recoup some of that.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
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