Chelsea deal twist stuns former CEO – ‘I can’t believe it’
Chelsea do not seem to care about gaining any significant commercial revenue with the wait for a front-of-shirt sponsor still ongoing.
That is according to ex-Everton, Aston Villa, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who has slammed Chelsea for its lack of commercial income.
Chelsea are holding out for a £60million front-of-shirt deal, with the London club failing to agree long-term partnerships over the last couple of years.
A £10m deal has been agreed for Chelsea’s shirt sleeve, but the agreement with FPT Corporation only lasts until the end of the season.
Chelsea want ‘right value’ from shirt sponsor deal
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – finds Chelsea’s situation “very confusing.”
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness says the situation needs to be resolved.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I mean, the number of times we’ve talked about Chelsea’s sponsorships and nothing has come through. And it just seems it’s something deeper to me about how they just don’t seem to care about commercial revenue.
“We’ve talked, you know, why that might be the case in terms of trying to preserve evaluation and not accepting lower bids, because I’ve told you before that they want to make sure that when they do sell it, they get the right value, and the value they believe it’s worth.
“But this has gone on for so long that it’s hard to believe that’s the case. It’s almost as though they don’t really care about this sort of source of revenue. And I find that hard to believe. But yes, there’s been such a turnover of people on the commercial side at Chelsea as well.
“So it’s been very confusing. And this is an area they’ve got to get resolved because it just, you know, feels like they don’t care. I mean, if they’re making all the money out of player trading, that’s one thing. But still, this is a good source of revenue that should be producing for them. No front of shirt still. The sleeve sponsor, well, let’s wait and see.”
Chelsea face stadium problems
Chelsea are also facing complications over a new stadium, with the club finding it difficult to find a location to build a ground.
The Blues may have to focus on redeveloping Stamford Bridge, although there are also complexities around that.
Any move could prove expensive, and no short-term solution is currently planned, with owner Todd Boehly potentially passing the issue onto the next ownership.