‘Chelsea have lost money after deal agreed’ – Stefan Borson
Chelsea have faced significant sponsorship issues this season after failing to agree a new front-of-shirt deal.
It was also revealed in December the Premier League side’s former sleeve sponsor Fever had its agreement terminated due to the company’s financial issues.
Chelsea agreed a £6-8million deal last August for the entertainment discovery platform’s logo to feature on the men, women and academy players’ kits for this season.
Live Nation has now partnered with the London giants to replace Fever as the sleeve sponsor until the end of the campaign.
Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Chelsea will have lost money on what they would have been expecting to earn from the sponsorship this season following Fever’s termination.
Deloitte’s 2025 Money League revealed the club’s overall revenue fell from £513million in 2022-23 to £469million last season.
However, their commercial revenue increased from £210million to £225million across the same period.
Chelsea set for financial blow after £2m reveal
Borson revealed the new sleeve sponsorship deal with Live Nation is unlikely to be worth much more than £2.5million.
He told Football Insider: “I think they will have lost money this year versus what they expected.
“Clearly, there must have been some period of the season that was not paid for by Fever. We don’t know how much that is.
“You would imagine that they would have paid the first instalment, otherwise, they would have been booted off long ago. Maybe it was two different payments, one that was possibly due on 1 January.
“They have moved quickly to get a replacement sponsor. But that replacement sponsor isn’t worth anywhere near what the fever one will be worth because, first of all, they are a bit desperate, so they have been scrambling around to find somebody to take it.
“Apparently, they don’t have all the same rights that Fever had. Although they have got the sleeve, they don’t have some of the other rights around collateral and everything else. It’s only for five months, so how many games are left anyway?
“Furthermore, they are not printed on any of the actual replica kits because it’s all been sold already. I would be surprised if it was much more than £2million. I have seen £2.5million reported, but that seemed a bit toppy to me.
“But it could be because maybe part of the deal is that they will keep it for the Club World Cup and maybe that will sweeten it sufficiently.
“The other aspect of that is you would have thought the sleeve sponsor for next season would want the Club World Cup, so it’s not straightforward.”
Chelsea chiefs wanted to agree £50m deal
Stamford Bridge chiefs remain in talks about a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal after so far failing to reach an agreement.
Football Insider revealed on 26 September Chelsea wanted to agree a £50million deal for 2024-25 before being forced to significantly lower their asking price.
Enzo Maresca’s side currently sit sixth in the Premier League table after their form has dipped lately.
For more Chelsea and exclusive news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.