English soccer giants Chelsea have held talks with Saudi Arabian airline Riyadh Air over a potential front-of-shirt sponsorship deal, according to The Athletic. The value of the deal may fluctuate due to several factors, including the length of the contract and whether the club returns to the Uefa Champions League.
If Chelsea did ink a front-of-shirt partnership with Riyadh Air, they would join Arsenal and Manchester City in having a deal with a Middle Eastern airline. The Gunners and the Citizens have agreements with Emirates and Etihad, respectively. The tie-up drew concerns over Kaiyun appearing to use the partnership to promote betting to audiences in China, where gambling firms are illegal.
The company also has limited operations outside of Asia and its UK website remains under construction. The Athletic notes Kaiyun already has a partnership deal with Chelsea and was displayed on the billboards at Stamford Bridge during the Forest game. Chelsea had been poised to announce a shirt deal with betting firm Stake in June only to scrap the proposed arrangement following a backlash from fans.
Last month, it was reported Chelsea had agreed a front-of-shirt sponsorship with sports technology startup Infinite Athlete to replace Three. Infinite Athlete, which recently rebranded from Tempus Ex Machina, counts Silver Lake , which owns a minority stake in Manchester City , as an investor. Silver Lake is also an investor in Fanatics along with Eldridge, the company owned by Chelsea chairman and co-owner Todd Boehly.
According to The Athletic, Chelsea do not consider these links, along with Riyadh Air being owned by PIF, which controls Newcastle United , to be a deterrent to the Infinite Athlete proposal, which remains in pole position. As well as Riyadh Air and Kaiyun, the Blues are purportedly in discussions with other companies, including another major US technology company.
