Kieran Maguire warns Chelsea about ‘dangerous’ new £12m deal
Chelsea will be left with ‘egg on their face’ if their new sponsorship deal with crypto firm BingX collapses.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the dangers attached to football clubs working with crypto companies.
Chelsea announced on Friday (5 January) that they have struck a multi-year agreement with BingX that will see them appear on the club’s shirt sleeves for the remainder of the 2023/24 season.
As revealed by Football Insider on Thursday (4 January), the Blues will earn £12million per season from their BingX sponsorship deal.
BingX also shares ties to Russia but The Telegraph report that the deal is still set to go ahead and will not be blocked by the government.
Chelsea have previously struck a sleeve sponsorship deal with WhaleFin worth £20million per season, but the deal collapsed in December 2022 after heavy retrenchment at the crypto firm.
Maguire believes Chelsea have continued to work with crypto companies as they are willing to match their big asking prices.
“Chelsea will be delighted with getting a £12million per season deal from BingX,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“It looks as if crypto is going to be a get-out-of-jail-free card for many clubs who are aware of the ban on gambling adverts coming in from the end of the 2024/25 season.
“Crypto is effectively gambling with a small ‘g’ but they offer a solution for clubs that have big asking prices for sponsorship deals.
“It is dangerous, however, because the history of these organisations is somewhat chequered and as we have seen, many of them have gone to the wall leaving clubs with egg on their face.
“We’ve seen it at Inter Milan and their deal with DigitalBits and also Chelsea have experienced it with their WhaleFin agreement.“
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