Chelsea have clashed with the Premier League over their attempt to broker a deal with a new shirt sponsor ahead of the 2023/24 Premier League season.
The Premier League’s refusal to grant Chelsea the permission for the proposed new deal with a shirt sponsor has been linked to the potential damaging impact of the deal to Premier League’s ‘current broadcast partners’.
Chelsea were already in talks with potential new sponsors such as Allianz, a banking behemoth in Germany, who are also Bayern Munich sponsors.
The negotiations with the German banking giants crashed because they offered Chelsea £20m every year for the deal which was turned down.
Betting firm, Stake.com, were also on the lineup for a potential new deal with a £40m annual offer on the table but the deal did not materialize as Chelsea latter back off for a better investor, American media giants, Paramount Plus.
As per the Mail, Paramount Plus were close to a deal with the Blues with talks set to have entered advanced stages before the Premier League stepped in and refused to grant the club permission to complete the deal.
Chelsea are believed to have opt for Paramount Plus due to the brand’s authority in streaming live European club matches to their teeming audience outside the UK.
Paramount Plus are also said to be sponsors of Serie A giants Inter Milan and were stamped on the club’s Champions League final shirt against Manchester City on June 10 in Turkey.
Premier League reject Paramount Plus as Chelsea new shirt sponsor
Chelsea were reportedly closing in on the deal with Paramount Plus but suffered drastic setbacks as the Premier League refuse to grant them permission to seal the deal. The Premier League are worried an agreement with Paramount Plus will hurt other Premier League partners such as Sky Sports and BT Sports.
However, the Premier League’s refusal to assent to the Paramount Plus deal has been faulted by some pundits on grounds that Paramount Plus only streams Premier League matches to UK audience and would have not came into direct competition with BT Sports or Sky Sports.
Apart from concerns of erring other Premier League sponsors, the Premier League is said to have also objected to the deal because it did not align to the Deed of Licence, which lays out guidelines covering media pacts between clubs and media agencies.
Following the rebuttal of the Paramount Plus, Stake.com are now the leading contenders to broker a deal with Chelsea but such deals will not last as the Premier League has a standing order against deals with betting agencies which will be implemented from 2025.
Chelsea transfer activities to be affected by lack of new sponsors
Now, according to reports, Chelsea transfer activities will likely be affected by the Premier League’s decision not to allow them broker the deal with Paramount Plus.
The Sun reports, Todd Boehly, who expended a fortune last summer, needed more funds for more explorations in the transfer market this summer.
A possible new shirt sponsor would have augmented the club’s transfer reserves to sign more players this summer.
