Chelsea news: £900m Nike kit deal makes Blues second to Man United in two-year commercial performance
The new £60m a season deal with Nike is still eclipsed by United’s £75m a season deal with Adidas
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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea’s new £900m Nike kit deal has made them the Premier League’s second best performer for new commercial deals over the past two years, with only Manchester United surpassing the £1bn they have brought in.
The new £60m a season deal with Nike is still eclipsed by United’s £75m a season deal with Adidas. But it demonstrates the west London club’s emergence as a substantial player in the competitive market for international sponsorship deals, with the ex-Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow delivering big revenues since his appointment in 2014 as head of the club’s global commercial activities.
Purslow and his team also brought in the £40million-a-year shirt sponsorship deal with Yokohama Rubber last year – the second-largest shirt sponsorship deal in English football history. There has also been a £10m-a-year training kit deal with Thai energy drink Carabao, as well as a Hublot watch agreement and an improved renewal with Delta Airlines.
Purslow, the former Liverpool managing director, had a high profile at Anfield after he was brought in by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group chief executive Stephen Hester to oversee the sale of the club, amid the chaos of George Gillett and Tom Hicks’ ownership. He has been more low key in his two years at Stamford Bridge, reporting to chairman Bruce Buck and director Marina Granovskaia, but the deals have done the talking.
The Chelsea commercial team is far smaller than that of United, who have a staff of 45 people based at Mayfair and have built a money-making juggernaut by fixing the United crest to everything from Japanese paint to Mr Potato Indonesian snacks.
Chelsea’s focus has been on fewer high value commercial partners. The need to drive up commercial sponsors is acute, owing to the fact that the club’s match day revenues are far smaller than United or Arsenal because of their modest 42,000 ground capacity. Attempts to expand Stamford Bridge have been made Chelsea have been rendered more complicated by planning problems.
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