Chelsea is on the verge of ending a period where they have had no front-of-shirt sponsor by announcing Oracle as their next new front-of-shirt partner. Moreover, the one-season deal that will bring back a partner to the front of the shirt after three seasons without such a partner, is expected to be the club’s relief.
Deal Near Completion After Lengthy Search
Chelsea have not known how to maintain a stable commercial strategy, as they had to resort to short-term solutions such as Infinite Athlete and Damac in the last few months. Football finance expert Lukasz Bączek pointed out that the talks with Oracle are at the final stage. He added that this collaboration is a part of the bigger picture of Clearlake Capital investment.
There is information that Oracle will pay a lot less than the £60m per season that Chelsea anticipated, but the club sees this transaction as a step forward nevertheless. Matt Law has even called the long wait to give any updates deeply and genuinely quite truly “embarrassing” for him.
Financial Pressure and Commercial Concerns
The lack of a long-term sponsor for the Blues has been at the core of the creation of a large revenue gap. Liverpool and Manchester United, Chelsea’s Premier League rivals, make between £50m and £60m a year from shirt sponsorships. Even though authorities still had to make 74 charges at the time of writing, many companies showed their reluctance to enter into long-term agreements.
Chelsea, after having sold their players for over £300m this summer, are still in need of new commercial income in order to stabilize their financial plans. The agreement with Oracle is like a breath of fresh air in the short-term for the club as they slowly regain their commercial credibility.
Author’s Opinion
The signing of Oracle by Chelsea is a step in the right direction, however, the club needs to regain trust from the market. The priority should be a stable long-term partner for the seasons to come.
As featured on Chelseanews.com
