There are two ways to look at Chelsea not signing a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal before the start of the season.

You could view it as a failure, with companies not wanting to fork out £45million-plus for the privilege of being in prime position on their kits following a disappointing Premier League campaign in 2023-24, buoyed by the narrative that the club’s owners, Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, don’t know what they are doing.

The alternate view, echoed within their home stadium Stamford Bridge, is that Chelsea rolled the dice and gambled on their sporting performance improving, therefore rendering it foolish to enter a long-term deal with a potential partner in the summer when the front-of-shirt value could be sold for a much bigger fee just a few months later.

In this case, both can be true, yet it’s evident no company was willing to pay what Chelsea were asking for, otherwise the players would be sporting some brand’s logo on their chests already.

One opportunistic company even shared a press release at the beginning of November, announcing the ‘exclusive news’ it had secured a deal to become Chelsea’s new front-of-shirt partner for the rest of the season. When challenged on the fact this simply wasn’t true, the firm, which will remain nameless, thought it would still be a good story for media outlets to run.

The club hierarchy’s choice to hold their nerve, to not just accept a low-ball figure for the sake of it, could be about to pay off — and it is a bet not many others in the game would have been willing to make.

New head coach Enzo Maresca has been a transformative appointment, guiding Chelsea to third in the league. There is a good feeling around Chelsea and the potential of their young squad.

This has led to renewed interest from potential partners when it comes to Chelsea selling their front-of-shirt sponsorship, meaning they have orchestrated something resembling a beauty contest to drive up the price.

Chelsea sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, have indicated to The Athletic that the process is nearing its end — their shirts will have a sponsor before the season ends.

Leading the negotiations for securing a lucrative deal are Jason Gannon, the club’s president and chief operating officer, Todd Kline, their new president of commercial, and Casper Stylsvig, their chief revenue officer.

Chelsea’s starting point for this deal has always been at the Champions League level. Their domestic rivals competing in Europe’s elite club competition are the benchmark, and they didn’t want to accept an offer that would look cheap, despite playing in UEFA’s third-tier Conference League.

The view from the other side of the negotiation table, however, was one that essentially asked, ‘Why would we give you Champions League money when you aren’t even in that competition?’. There was also a fair sense of concern about how this season would play out, given the change from Mauricio Pochettino to Maresca in the dugout.

Manchester United, the outlier in this scenario due to years of underperforming on the pitch, recently extended their deal with technology firm Snapdragon, which sees them earn $75million (£59.8m at the current exchange rate) per year for their front-of-shirt asset.

In July 2022, Liverpool extended their deal with bank Standard Chartered to the end of 2026-27, with The Athletic being told it constituted a significant uplift on the previous £40million-a-year contract. Arsenal’s Emirates airlines deal — which was renewed at the start of last season, meaning it will have lasted for 22 years when the latest extension ends in 2028 — is reportedly worth £50m a year.

Chelsea are seeking around £60million a year, which they believe is the going rate for the Premier League’s elite clubs, especially those competing at the top end of the table.

The Athletic’s special report into Manchester City’s sponsors in 2022 detailed that they receive more than £67.5million a year from Etihad Airways, from the United Arab Emirates home of its owners, for sponsorship including matchday shirtfronts.

At the beginning of last season, again having failed to secure a front-of-shirt sponsorship, Chelsea signed a short-term deal for 2023-24 with Infinite Athlete, a biomechanics engineering company, which was worth over £40million to the club.

“Somewhere between £45million and £55m a year would probably be your typical Champions League high-ranking Premier League club’s value,” explains Professor Rob Wilson, from the University Campus of Football Business.

“In the context of this conversation, hindsight is our friend, so if it was a strategy in the summer, then you have to give Chelsea a pat on the back. But I can’t see it. I just think they simply weren’t able to sign a sponsor that was prepared to spend £40million a year, so they have sat on it looking for what they might find.

Chelsea are the only one of the 20 Premier League sides without a front-of-shirt sponsor (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

“They are now at the top end of the league and that makes them a more interesting proposition.”

Short-term and long-term sponsorship deals remain a possibility. One sticking point in negotiations with potential partners is that Chelsea are not looking to sign with anyone for five years, preferring shorter contracts. They don’t want to be stuck in a five-year deal if, as predicted, there is a sponsorship boom in football linked to the 2026 men’s World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“The power of the American investor is coming into play,” explains Richard Busby, chief executive of BDS Sponsorship — one of Europe’s most prominent consultancies in the field. “The World Cup in 2026 and its impact in America is crucial to what happens to shirt-sponsorship prices.

“If it starts to really get big viewership in America — the Premier League is still relatively small in America when it comes to viewership — then, clearly, there is a lot more money potentially available.”

This is a view also shared by senior figures at Chelsea. The club have been in discussions with several potential partners, including airlines and tech companies. The Middle East and the United States are generally viewed as where most of the sponsorship money is coming from, although Asia has also been touted as an emerging market.

Chelsea, naturally, see themselves as an attractive proposition. Being located in London is a significant part of that thinking, along with an improved sporting performance and brand identity, having won the Champions League twice in the past 12 years. What shouldn’t be overlooked, however, is that Chelsea have lost ground on their rivals by not having a front-of-shirt sponsor in place sooner.

Wilson says: “Chelsea should be worth somewhere between £35million and £40m a year. They’re obviously asking for a bit more than that to benchmark themselves against Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City, but it’s more the opportunity cost of the lost revenue.

“When you think about PSR (the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules) headroom, they are going to be extraordinarily tight. What they’ve done over the last couple of years is they’ve sold the hotel (at Stamford Bridge), they’ve sold the stake in the women’s team, and that is all geared up around their PSR compliance calculation.

“So, when you effectively aren’t able to weigh in an additional £40million worth of shirt sponsorship, that’s quite a sizeable amount of value against that calculation, hence why they’ve had to take those drastic steps to sell those assets.”

While Chelsea have gone through the first five months of the season with no front-of-shirt sponsor, they do have a longer campaign ahead than most. Yes, these months have gone, but 2024-25 could extend into July for them due to their involvement in the first revamped and greatly expanded Club World Cup.

The recently announced free-to-air DAZN broadcast deal for that U.S.-hosted tournament means any front-of-shirt sponsor that eventually does a deal with Chelsea is going to have more eyeballs on it from a global perspective — even if nobody knows how many people are actually going to tune in to watch the competition.

This means Chelsea can still appease companies feeling somewhat uneasy about committing to a deal in the second half of the season. But with Chelsea still to play in the FA Cup (they are at home to fourth-division strugglers Morecambe in round three next month) and through to the round of 16 in the Conference League in March, there are still plenty of fixtures to take place.

Busby says he would be “very surprised” if Chelsea could do a deal for such a significant fee in “less than nine months”, also noting January is “budget month” for many corporations, meaning that is the time they are sitting down to work out where money could be spent.

There is also the theory that anything spent on a shirt sponsorship has to be matched by the paying company to market it.

Chelsea did a short-term deal with Infinite Athlete last season (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

“For every pound spent on a sponsorship fee, theoretically, you should be spending the same in terms of making the activation work,” Busby says. “When Coca-Cola sponsor the Olympics, they are spending eight times as much on getting it activated as they do on the sponsorship fee.

“Now, you don’t need to spend eight times as much (in Chelsea’s situation), but you still need to spend a lot of money on a global sponsorship beyond the figure everyone sees reported.”

From the perspective of the Premier League’s PSR, which state clubs are allowed adjusted losses of £105million over a rolling three-year period, not having a front-of-shirt sponsor in place is far from ideal.

Chelsea are yet to publish their financial results for the year ending June 30, 2024, with those expected to land at Companies House in the early part of 2025, but they reported operating losses of £121.4million (2021-22) and £90.1m (2022-23) in the previous sets of accounts. The sale of two hotels to a sister company for £76.5m in 2023 helped ensure they remained on the right side of the Premier League guidelines, and the sense coming from the club is that even without a front-of-shirt sponsor being secured, they are going to be fine going forward.

Wilson, however, disagrees.

“They will breach this year unless they can bring in some additional revenue from an alternate source,” he says. “The only thing they have left to sell is their shirt sponsorship.

“Because of the hotel sale, combined with their transfer activity in the summer, they are going to be right on the limit for the year ending 2024. They will have a black hole in their 2024-25 accounts, unless they sell the shirt sponsorship, or they have a positive net transfer spend next summer. But they have to do that before June 30, because they will need the transfer receipts before the PSR year ends.”

Chelsea sources said to The Athletic they were confident there is no risk whatsoever of them breaching PSR for this season.

Chelsea are confident a front-of-shirt partnership will be finalised sooner rather than later, but, until then, the only Premier League side among the 20 without a partner’s logo on the chests of their matchday jersey will continue to be an outlier.

Whether or not Chelsea can generate their ideal fee remains to be seen, yet their decision to roll the dice and say no to taking a lower-valued deal was a bold and, in hindsight, brave move.

There is an expectation the 2026 World Cup, largely hosted by the United States, will change the football sponsorship market (Loren Elliott/Getty Images)

If the predictions about a potential sponsorship boom for Premier League clubs on the back of a successful 2026 World Cup prove true, then Chelsea, whose youthful squad will be a couple of years more experienced collectively and should be both regulars in the Champions League and competing for trophies once again, could be one of the first in line to cash in.

United are tied up with Snapdragon until 2029, Emirates will sponsor Arsenal until at least 2028 and Liverpool’s relationship with Standard Chartered runs to 2027. This means Chelsea could be the biggest Premier League club without a front-of-shirt sponsor, which is likely going to drive up interest due to the limited inventory.

If Chelsea’s season tails off, and playing in the Champions League again once more becomes a faraway dream, then they could find themselves back at square one. But when you roll the dice, especially in football, that’s the risk you take — and Chelsea made that move with their eyes wide open.

(Top photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

CHICAGO — With two minutes and 14 seconds remaining in a horrendous game against the Seattle Seahawks, the fans seated in the United Club of Soldier Field started to chant.

“Sell the team!”

“Sell the team!”

“Sell the team!”

The Chicago Bears decided to punt after fourth-and-inches from their own 39 turned into fourth-and-5 following offensive lineman fill-in Jake Curhan’s false start.

“Sell the team!”

“Sell the team!”

But wait … the Bears called a timeout. They changed their mind. They wanted to go for it.

After all, what did the Bears have to lose but another game in another lost season for the NFL’s charter franchise?

The chants, though, started again.

And they spread.

“Sell the team!”

The only thing that seemed to stop them was what quarterback Caleb Williams did in the game’s waning moments amidst more clock mismanagement by the Bears.

On fourth-and-5, Williams escaped an all-out blitz from the Seahawks and connected with receiver DJ Moore over the middle for a 14-yard gain. Three plays later on third-and-14, Williams eluded more pressure from Seattle, took a hit to his throat from linebacker Boye Mafe and completed a 15-yard pass to rookie receiver Rome Odunze.

But the chants would return.

Williams threw an interception over the middle on the Bears’ final offensive play against another all-out blitz by Seattle. Quarterback Geno Smith then took a knee for a 6-3 win for the Seahawks on “Thursday Night Football.”

“SELL THE TEAM!” chants broke out from Bears fans at Soldier Field tonight.

🎥 @jacobinfante24 pic.twitter.com/ErHL3deV9X

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) December 27, 2024

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The fans who decided to stick out such an ugly game the day after Christmas let chairman George McCaskey and his family hear it again. Their chants grew louder — angrier.

“Sell the team!”

“Sell the team!”

“Sell the team!”

As always, things can and will get worse for the Bears. Fans have gone from chanting “Fire Nagy” to “Fire Flus” to “Sell the team,” which, according to some longtime observers, is a new one from the home crowd. The Bears’ losing streak stretched to 10 games. The only thing missing is the Green Bay Packers’ annual pummeling of the Bears.

And that likely comes in the season finale at Lambeau Field.

Williams tried to blame himself for what transpired against the Seahawks. He’s right in thinking that he can play better, especially with the Bears defense delivering its best game since the dismissal of coach Matt Eberflus. Williams was 16-for-28 passing for 122 yards. He was sacked seven times. His interception-free streak ended with his final throw. It was one of his worst games this season and it came on national television.

“I didn’t play well enough,” Williams said. “I didn’t help put the team in a good position to win, a better position to win, and that’s what it is.”

Williams pointed to the “stupid” sacks he took against the Seahawks. He’s been sacked a league-high 67 times this season.

“I’ll definitely take the heat for this one because of some of the situations that I put us in,” he said.

Caleb Williams did not complete a single pass beyond 6 yards downfield until the final drive of regulation in the Bears’ TNF loss to the Seahawks.

🔸 Under 10 AY: 15/17, 107 yards (+4.5% CPOE)
🔸 Over 10 AY: 1/9, 15 yards, INT (-27.2% CPOE)#SEAvsCHI | #DaBears pic.twitter.com/4pr4JU2jsm

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 27, 2024

But it’s still unfair to expect the rookie quarterback to overcome everything this calamitous season has provided. He needs to play better, but he’s trying to pull himself out of a hole he didn’t dig. His first NFL offensive coordinator and head coach were fired during the season, which is something the Bears had never done before this year. The team will be searching for its sixth head coach under McCaskey soon enough.

The “sell the team” chants Thursday at Soldier Field came just four days after Detroit Lions fans filled Soldier Field in their Honolulu blue and watched their team roll to a 34-17 win. A day later, Packers fans chanted “The Bears still suck” on “Monday Night Football” as their favorite team routed the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field.

Williams was asked about the fans’ chants and frustrations.

“This is my first year,” he said. “Their frustrations go way longer back than I’ve been here. My job is to go out there and win games. We don’t focus on the outside noise. Fans, they’re going to cheer and maybe boo sometimes. You can’t react to that. It’s not something we react to. We have a job to do. And sometimes you don’t do so well on the job some days and some days you’re pretty consistent, some days you play a great game.”

GO DEEPER

Pete Carroll interested in Bears coaching job: Source

Williams’ best play Thursday night was negated by a penalty in the second quarter. On third-and-10 from the Seahawks’ 17, Williams scrambled to his left and fired a touchdown pass to Odunze in the end zone. Curhan, who played in place of injured starter Teven Jenkins, was penalized for holding. The Bears settled for a 42-yard field goal by Cairo Santos.

They never scored again.

Williams remains the most appealing thing about the Bears, but he desperately needs help on and off the field with coaching. His development can’t be derailed by this abysmal season.

And the Bears, being the Bears, haven’t broken him — yet.

“Frustrating, annoyed, but learning, I would say,” Williams said. “I definitely think that this is going to be good for me. Excited about this last game and then excited about the future.”

(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

We are now exactly 10 weeks away from the NHL’s March 7 trade deadline.

That leaves enough runway for the needs of buyers and sellers to shift before the biggest decisions are made — or for buyers and sellers to switch places. But in a season where there’s already been plenty of trade action, it’s not too soon to try to find some fits between teams and players available on our latest NHL trade big board.

With that in mind, here’s part two of trade-board matchmaker.

Team: San Jose Sharks
Position: F
Shoots: L
Age: 32
Contract term: 2025 UFA
AAV: $5 million

LeBrun: Vegas Golden Knights

The 32-year-old Granlund leads the Sharks in scoring and is on pace for a career high in points. He’s meant a lot to San Jose off the ice, too, as far as his leadership and influence around the youngsters. He also likes it there. All of which is to say, it’s not a slam dunk he gets dealt before the deadline just because he’s a pending unrestricted free agent. The expectation is that Granlund’s agents, Todd Diamond and Mark Gandler, will have a discussion in the new year with Sharks general manager Mike Grier. But the team will need to balance any potential extension with the kind of offers it’ll get on the trade market, and there will certainly be some. Granlund’s versatility of being able to play all three forward positions with comfort will appeal to contenders. He may also augment his trade value depending on his performance under the spotlight playing for Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. Looking into my matchmaker crystal ball, let’s make him a Vegas Golden Knight. The Sharks and Knights got together on a trade deadline deal a year ago involving Tomas Hertl. Keeping in mind Granlund’s versatility and the unfortunate reality of always being concerned about Mark Stone’s health, I like the idea for Vegas of adding this kind of depth.

Johnston: Minnesota Wild

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since Granlund was a first-round pick by the Wild who spent seven seasons playing for the organization. Still, wouldn’t it be a nice homecoming story? Minnesota could really use a forward who can toggle between center and wing while chipping in with some offense. Granlund ticks all of those boxes and should come with an added level of comfort given his familiarity with the organization. The cap aspect will need to be worked out since San Jose doesn’t have any retention spots still open and Minnesota has some added challenges while operating in long-term injured reserve, but those aren’t big enough hurdles to keep this from happening.

Team: Philadelphia Flyers
Position: D
Shoots: R
Age: 30
Contract term: 2027 UFA
AAV: $5.1 million

LeBrun: Winnipeg Jets

It wasn’t too long ago that Ristolainen’s contract scared teams, but it’s funny what happens with a 20-minute-a-night, top-four defenseman finds his game more consistently, as he has this season. Suddenly, with the salary cap going up, a $5.1 million cap hit for the next two and a half years isn’t so bad at all. That’s why league sources say the Flyers have indeed received calls this season asking if they would be willing to move Ristolainen. The answer from the Flyers is yes — if there’s a certain price met. They would want a good prospect or young player in return or a combination of a prospect and a pick. And while trading for a player with term on his contract isn’t your typical deadline deal since most contenders prefer rentals, I can see it appealing to a few teams. For example, the Jets. I’d like to see the Jets add the kind of size on the right side of their defense that Ristolainen would bring. And after giving up a first-round pick last season for rental Sean Monahan only to see him leave July 1, and keeping in mind how difficult it is for the Jets to attract free agents to Winnipeg, I like the idea of acquiring a player under contract. So there you have it, I’ve got the Cup-contending Jets taking on Ristolainen.

Could Rasmus Ristolainen end up in the Central Division? (Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)

Johnston: Dallas Stars

The Stars made a big splash by acquiring Chris Tanev ahead of last year’s deadline but were unable to retain him in free agency over the summer. They haven’t yet filled that hole on the right side of their blue line. The term remaining on Ristolainen’s contract fits in with the Stars’ win-now window, and the improvements in his game should hold appeal given how few defensive stoppers are expected to be available in the marketplace. Depth is essential for any team gearing up for a long spring, and Dallas is all in on trying to win the Stanley Cup.

Team: Chicago Blackhawks
Position: F
Shoots: L
Age: 33
Contract term: 2025 UFA
AAV: $6 million

LeBrun: Utah HC

The Blackhawks actually haven’t committed yet to trading Hall, although given where they are in the standings, one would imagine that’s the most logical course of action for the veteran pending unrestricted free agent. It hasn’t been the best of seasons for the 33-year-old winger, but something tells me that a move to a Cup contender might ignite a little flash from the former Hart Trophy winner. He’s always been one of the smartest players in the league. The hockey IQ hasn’t dulled even if the skating has slowed down a little. If the Hawks are willing to eat some of Hall’s $6 million cap hit, there’s no question in my mind there will be a market for him. Hall has a modified no-trade clause, so his agent, Darren Ferris, could have a role in helping the Hawks find a suitor. So hear me out here: Utah HC as a buyer! This is only realistic in a world in which Utah stays in the race in the second half. They could use a little more offense. Hall has some brand-name cache that would be fun to bring into the NHL’s newest market, and Utah has plenty of cap room, plus a strong desire to stay in the playoff chase.

Johnston: Colorado Avalanche

The Avs are one of the few top teams who could make room for Hall in their top six, which is likely where a player with his skill set needs to play in order to be most effective. The continued uncertainty around Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog, who has gone more than two and a half years without playing while recovering from a cartilage transplant in his right knee, makes the need for another left winger more pronounced. Hall may not skate at the same level as earlier in his career, but he’s still faster than average and could hold his own alongside Nathan MacKinnon in top-line duty if needed. At minimum, he would give the Avalanche more lineup flexibility than they enjoy now. The acquisition cost also shouldn’t be too significant for a veteran player unlikely to be part of the long-term solution for the rebuilding Blackhawks.

Will Borgen

Team: New York Rangers
Position: D
Shoots: R
Age: 28
Contract term: 2025 UFA
AAV: $2.7 million

LeBrun: Florida Panthers

The Rangers just acquired Borgen, but he’s a pending unrestricted free agent and unless New York can somehow stop the bleeding and turn around its season, the Blueshirts will be sellers and open to flipping him. The 6-foot-3, 204-pound Borgen would fit nicely in South Florida. I think in many ways, pending unrestricted free agent David Savard is a more obvious fit for the Panthers given his past relationship in Columbus with Panthers general manager Bill Zito, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Florida tried for Savard if it’s looking for a rental, right-shot D with some physicality who won’t break the bank. But Borgen would be the more under-the-radar move if indeed the Rangers decide to make him available.

Will Borgen, right, has only played three games for the Rangers, but he could be on the move again. (Wendell Cruz / Imagn Images)

Johnston: Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks have struggled since losing Filip Hronek to a significant lower-body injury earlier this month, and they’re not expecting him to play again before February. That’s exposed a gaping need on the right side of the blue line that management has aggressively been trying to address. Enter Borgen, who excels in the less-celebrated parts of the game like penalty killing, which Vancouver can certainly use. The stay-at-home defender is a good skater who should be able to step into a second pairing on a team and brings the kind of size teams view as an added plus come playoff time. Borgen will have plenty of suitors ahead of the deadline, but there may not be anyone more motivated to pursue him than Vancouver.

Team: Seattle Kraken
Position: F
Shoots: L
Age: 32
Contract term: 2025 UFA
AAV: $3.5 million

LeBrun: New Jersey Devils

All signs point to the pending unrestricted free agent winger getting dealt ahead of the deadline if the Kraken aren’t in the playoff chase, which seems rather likely as of now. My understanding is there are several contenders waiting to see if/when Tanev is on the market because they want a crack at him. He brings the kind of grindy game most playoff teams are looking for. He’s an excellent penalty killer who leads Seattle in shorthanded ice time. He won’t back down from anyone. I like the Devils as a fit. They’re looking for a bottom-six boost, and I can picture Tanev finding a nice spot in that Cup-contending lineup that has no shortage of offensive talent but could use a little more sandpaper.

Johnston: Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas went into the NHL’s holiday break with the league’s best points percentage, and there’s a strong expectation it’ll be looking to beef up before the deadline yet again. In fact, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Golden Knights pursue two forwards – one with more offensive ability, and a bottom-sixer to round out other elements of the team. Tanev falls into the latter category and may end up being the strongest player with that skill set available. A high-end skater who plays the game hard, it’s not difficult to imagine him fitting in with a team accustomed to using all four lines to win.

(Photo of Mikael Granlund and Brandon Tanev: Eric Hartline / USA Today and Alika Jenner / Getty Images)