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- IFS to continue sponsoring Chelsea until 2028
- Chelsea has been without a front-of-shirt sponsor since last summer
Premier League club Chelsea have agreed a short-term kit sponsorship deal with artificial intelligence (AI) firm IFS, which has signed up as principal partner until the end of the ongoing 2025/26 season.
The West London club are the only team in the league to have played this season without a front-of-shirt sponsorship and have been without a kit partner since a temporary deal with DAMAC ended last summer.
BBC Sport reports that IFS will continue to sponsor Chelsea until 2028, with the deal’s valuation not disclosed. It is unclear whether the AI firm will remain the club’s front-of-shirt sponsor beyond the ongoing campaign, with Chelsea said to be targeting a deal worth around UK£65 million (US$87.8 million) per season from their next long-term contract.
Chelsea’s last long-term front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Three, which ended in 2023, was reportedly worth around UK£40 million (US$54 million) each year. Three now serves as a principal partner for Chelsea Women.
IFS becomes Chelsea’s fourth principal partner, joining Nike, FPT and BingX. The company also sponsors the Sri Lankan Twenty20 national cricket team and the Cadillac Formula One outfit.
“We are incredibly proud to partner with IFS and leverage their leading-edge AI software to help propel the club to even greater success,” said Jason Gannon, president of Chelsea FC.
“This partnership is a statement of intent to keep leading in this field, harnessing the opportunities advanced technology brings and unlocking the power of AI to improve everything we do on and off the pitch.”
As part of the partnership, IFS will also provide its software to Chelsea to help identify efficiencies on and off the field.
“In sport as in industry, the margins are small, the stakes are high, and the right decision at the right moment is everything,” added Mark Moffat, chief executive of IFS. “That’s what IFS Industrial AI delivers for the industries that power the global economy.
“Chelsea FC holds itself to that same uncompromising standard, and that shared ambition is exactly why we’re proud to be their principal partner.”
SportsPro says…
For several years now, Chelsea have opted not to sign a long-term sponsorship deal that it believes does not reflect what it considers to be the true value of the inventory. It would rather forfeit the potential revenue of such a deal instead of harming the perception of its brand in the market and is banking on this stance, along with improvements on the field, delivering more long-term potential.
However the longer Chelsea go without a long-term deal, the opportunity costs increases significantly. Additionally, the lost revenue would be hugely useful in helping the club fund its seemingly insatiable appetite for acquiring players and increasing its wage bill whilst adhering to spending regulations.
For now, however, Chelsea have secured a short-term cash injection. The priority now will be on a top four finish in the Premier League to guarantee Champions League soccer next season – and increase the value of its front-of-shirt sponsorship potential.
With The Athletic reporting that their sleeve deal with FPT also expires in the summer, it will mark a busy period for Chelsea’s commercial team.
Sponsorship remains the most powerful commercial force in sport, yet as investments soar, the ROI gap widens. This April, SportsPro London will deliver frameworks for proving impact beyond logo placement. Learn more here.