Chelsea have a new era upon them, after a big summer clearance of players such as Edouard Mendy, Kouliabaily, Cobham graduate Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and even former club captain Cezar Azpilicueta but this revolution or transformation is not just with personnel but also with sponsorships as the blues have managed to secure a shirt sponsor for their 23/34 season.
Who are Infinite Athlete?
Chelsea’s new shirt sponsor is American that has ambitions to become a major influence in world football by supplying affordable player data to clubs and allowing fans to watch games from several camera angles. In means that Chelsea and Pochettino will have top class AI player data available to them.
🚨 Chelsea’s new shirt sponsor has agreed a deal for £50m! (@NathGissing)
Many Chelsea sources on Twitter and even The Daily Mail believe, the west London club have struck a £40million deal with Infinite Athlete, which supplies affordable player data to clubs and allowing fans to watch games from multiple camera angles. This will mean manager Mauricio Pochettino can use AI player data to help manage their squad, whilst fans will be able to see the same stats in an app, while streaming a match as if they were standing with friends in the stands at Stamford Bridge.
The American brand are also the parent company of another Chelsea partner Tempus Ex and currently have lucrative sponsorship deals with the NFL and the US Collegiate Pac-12 Conference.
In April, Chelsea entered into an agreement with Tempus Ex Machina to form a seven-year partnership ‘to power innovative technology enhancements for the club and our global fanbase’. Infinite Athlete’s reach seemed to go further than that however. The company has already secured Biocore, a Biotech engineering firm led by Jeff Crandall.
However, the final value of Chelsea’s proposed sponsorship with the start-up company will be governed by the Premier League’s fair market value rules, as per The Telegraph.
Chelsea are already printing shirts with the brand new sponsor "Infinite Athlete" pic.twitter.com/9QW5A81GDS
— At The Bridge Pod ⭐️⭐️ (@AtTheBridgePod) August 9, 2023
The manner in which the news of the sponsorship got out really goes to show how eagle-eyed football fans are as Chelsea fans were quick to spot the double ‘E’ visible from a version of the 23/24 kit held by presenter, Olivia Buzaglo in some images of pre-season media day, talking to Armando Broja.
Chelsea’s contract with Infinite Athlete has been in the pipeline for months after the club saw their deal with mobile phone company Three ended last season. Co-owner Todd Boehly has endured a miserable time since making the decisions in west London and landing a major sponsorship deal is one of the few positives that club has seen or experienced in the past year.
Sky Sports leak
Some fans have spotted the new Chelsea home kits for 23/24 season with Infinite Athlete on them in a new behind-the-scenes video from Sky Sports.
The new sponsors can be clearly seen on Noni Madeuke’s jersey –
The London club’s partnership with mobile company, 3 was regarded by many as one of the worst sponsors on a football shirt, giving competition to Manchester United’s Team Viewer sponsorship. This is clearly a step above. Who knows, maybe the data provided by the American company may solve the injury crisis increasing fitness of the likes of Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva, who are known to struggle with injuries.
