Chelsea cancels Umbro sponsorship with £24.5m pay-off

by Daniel Farey-Jones,, Brand Republic 20-Jan-05, 08:55

LONDON - Chelsea Football Club is to pay £24.5m to free itself from its kit sponsorship deal with Umbro International five years ahead of schedule, sparking speculation that the Premiership leaders are to sign a lucrative deal with Adidas or Nike.

The deal with Umbro will end in 2006, five years before it was due to expire in 2011, and the sheer size of the payout indicates that the club has been approached with an offer too good to refuse by one of Umbro's bigger rivals.

If it is Adidas, which is fighting to regain footballing ground against Nike, it would follow its $350m (£187.4m) deal announced yesterday with Fifa to sponsor the 2010 and 2014 World Cup tournaments.

According to Chelsea, the decision was "mutual" and will help the club "to achieve its strategic long-term goals".

Umbro will continue to be the kit sponsor during the club's centenary season 2005/6, when a new centenary home kit and celebration products will be launched for the occasion.

The exit of its kit sponsor comes as it is also hunting for a new shirt sponsor after being dropped by its airline partner of five years, Emirates Airlines, with the deal set to run out at the end of this season in June.

Peter Kenyon, Chelsea chief executive, said: "Umbro has made a major contribution to the Chelsea of today. However, we believe this decision will help us achieve our strategic long-term goals in the future."

Emirates swapped teams in a £100m deal with Arsenal that will see the North Londoners' new Ashburton Grove Ground named Emirates Stadium.

Chelsea was linked last month with Siemens Mobile, but recent press reports say that Siemens is to sell off or close Siemens Mobile.

Liverpool FC and LG Mobile were also recently reported by Marketing to be on the verge of agreeing a shirt sponsorship deal. Liverpool's current deal with Carlsberg expires at the end of this season.

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