Chelsea Lands Crypto Sponsor After Four-Year Dry Spell
Crypto company Circle has secured a sponsorship deal with Chelsea FC, ending a four-year wait for the club to have a shirt sponsor. The deal, which runs for one season, will see the USDC stablecoin logo appear on the front of Chelsea's jerseys. This comes as a surprise given the recent struggles of the team's commercial activities.
Circle is behind the USDC stablecoin, the sixth-largest crypto asset with a valuation of around $73.6 billion. The company sells trust more than technology and has recently won a French e-money license, making it the first major stablecoin issuer cleared under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules.
The price of Chelsea's shirt sponsorship deal has been sliding over the past few years. In June, industry tracker The Sponsor cut the value by £16.7 million to £33.6 million, citing missing out on European football as the main reason. This puts the team's shirt value near £50 million a season.
Circle gets the Premier League and the window before Britain's own stablecoin rules take effect in October 2027. The FCA had warned Premier League clubs about unauthorized finance sponsors just months ago, adding to the significance of this deal.