Chelsea are continuing to pursue commercial deals with possible future sponsors despite upheaval in the past 12 months. The Blues are currently sponsored by primary partners Infinite Athlete, whose branding appears on the front of their shirts.

This wasn't the case at the start of the season, though, when Chelsea entered the campaign sponsorless. Following on from their shirt sponsorship split with Three (as primary sponsors, the mobile giants still have other deals that are carried out) Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital had to delve into their contact books.

The process was longer and more protracted than most imagined for a club now backed by a consortium founded upon American private equity investors with business deals as long as their transfer lists. Deals with Allianz and Paramount+ fell through, leading to a £60million black hole looming on the opening day clash with Liverpool.

Chelsea finalised a deal with Inifinite Athlete that same week and didn't have to wait long before playing with a sponsored shirt again, though it did stop them initially selling the home shirt, and that wasn't officially available until after pre-seaosn. . It is notable, though, that Infinite Athlete are a newly set-up company formed when Tempus Ex Machina - who already had a deal with the club in another department - merged with Biocore. Clearlake have their own ties to the company.

It all caused quite a stir with the Premier League seeking to set out stricter limits on associated party agreements - something that continues to bubble under at meetings. Now, though, they are exploring new avenues.

A deal with Oman Air was cut after less than a year of the new airline partnership being announced. Talks with Riyadh Air are also thought to be ongoing.

In comes as Infinite Athlete were initially expected to move to become the club's sleeve sponsor whilst a new primary partner was sought for the start of 2024/25. Other notable agreements in place are with Trivago - who sponsor the training wear - and BingX - a cryptocurrency firm that went on to become the sleeve sponsor following an announcement in January 2024.

Boehly-Clearlake had sourced a lucrative deal with fellow crypto service WhaleFin to sponsor the sleeves of kits from last term but that was terminated early. BingX will now become the new training sponsor in the coming two years.

These deals, which also include the Hilton hotels group, Singha beer, and Cadbury, make up part of the consortium's goals to push Chelsea toward generating £1billion in yearly revenue. For now, they are comfortably missing that target, and until things turn around on the field it is highly unlikely they will make serious progress towards it either.

However, despite losses in the 2022/23 period remaining high - the £90.1million figure was the third consecutive set of annual results in the red - there was an improvement commercially. Chelsea registered an increase of around £35million in total revenue for the period, reaching £512million, with around £40million coming from the commercial side.

Although this came during a period in which they were playing Champions League football - so broadcasting is likely to dip in the 2023/24 accounts - the sponsorship deals have been a boost. It comes as pressure to operate more financially sustainably increases.

The Blues are under immense scrutiny for their mass spending in the past two years. Although there are over £200million worth of player sales to offset that slightly, as well as the expected reduction in wages too for the upcoming period, amortisation fees are currently enormous even with the lengthy contract loopholes.

The threat of being in breach of the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules (PSRs) is by now abundantly clear. Points deductions can and will follow for those that overstep the mark - currently at £105million worth of allowed losses over a three-year period.

This does not take the blanket figure of losses but outcomes with so-called 'good' costs removed. This includes funding toward the stadium, women's team, academy, and community projects. The league are effectively looking at the bottom line when it comes to wages and transfers compared to revenue.

Things are expected to become clearer on this side moving forward with an expected shift towards UEFA's squad cost measures. For Chelsea they are more imminently being forecasted to struggle to meet the current regulations in the next 12 months.

Sales of academy players this summer could see them move closer to safety, but the longer-term plans will involve increasing commercial activity yet more. This much was made clear in their full accounts breakdown.

"The commercial partners of the Club are fundamental to our success," the club wrote in its strategic report. "The Club works hard to build long lasting relationships with like-minded brands that can help bring value to our club, our fans and our employees, moving beyond traditional partnering rights.

"It is also vitally important to the Club that partners understand our commitment to innovation, success and community support and engagement. For example, we look for partners that support fully the development and promotion of women's football in the UK and around the world, or that want to support our vast range of community programmes.

"We are proud of the work our partners do alongside Chelsea FC and look forward to welcoming more partners to Chelsea FC in the future."

It is the last part that perhaps spikes the most interest. With Chelsea's continued stance that they will comply with financial rules, having reliable and strong sponsorship deals has never been more important.

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