Who are Chelsea's sponsors and will they end their partnerships?

FT Desk

• Updated: 12 Mar 2022 11:30 CST
• 5 min read

There’s little doubt that Chelsea football club are in a huge amount of trouble following the club’s owner Roman Abramovich being placed on the sanctions list by the British government for his links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Not only do the sanctions limit a huge number of Chelsea’s income streams and a potential sale of the club, but they could end up having drastic implications for the club’s sponsors too.

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As we’ve seen numerous times at the highest levels of elite sports, sponsors are only willing to stick their money into a successful and popular brand and there’s a good chance that Chelsea will be neither of those things by the end of the year.

So who are Chelsea’s sponsors and how likely are the Stamford Bridge side to lose what could be a very lucrative part of their business?

Who are Chelsea’s sponsors?

Just prior to Abramovich being sanctioned by the British government, Chelsea laid claim to no less than 20 sponsors over a number of different tiers.

According to the club’s website, their three main sponsors - which are labelled as “Principal Partners” - are Nike, telecoms company Three and the hotel website Trivago.

Below those three key sponsors is a second tier of “Official Partners” which includes 14 companies. They are Cadbury, EA Sports, Fiserv, Go Markets, Hublot, Hyundai, Levy Restaurants, MSC Cruises, Pari Match, Singha, Sure, Vitality Health Insurance, Yokohama Tyres and Zapp.

The club also have an official Women’s Partner which is Singer Capital Markets, as well as Plan International and Soccer Aid, who are technically Charity Partners.

Will Chelsea’s sponsors cancel their deals with the club?

While the sanctions on the Chelsea owner were only announced on Thursday, some sponsors have already begun to reconsider their deals with the Stamford Bridge side.

Telecoms company Three, who are one of the club's "Principal Partners" announced on Thursday afternoon that they would be suspending their sponorship with the club.

In a statement, the company said: "In light of the government's recently announced sanctions, we have requested Chelsea Football Club temporarily suspend our sponsorship of the club, including the removal of our brand from shirts and around the stadium until further notice."

Not only are Three one of Chelsea's biggest sponsors but they are also one of the club's most notable ones, with their logo plastered across the club's current strips.

Similarly, Hyundai suggested on Thursday that they would effectively wait and see what happened with the transition of one owner to the next, but reports have since suggested tha the carmakers may also pull their sponsorship like Three.