Chelsea Football Club is the latest in sports to onboard a cryptocurrency sponsor. The London-based club has inked a £20 million shirt-sleeve sponsorship deal with WhaleFin, a platform for trading and lending cryptocurrencies .
Though officially not unveiled yet, multiple media houses have confirmed the signing of the sponsorship deal citing internal sources.
WhaleFin is replacing Hyundai to become the new sleeve sponsor of the football club. The deal has been inked for the next playing season. The Korean conglomerate is understood to be discussing alternative commercial terms with the football club.
Tough Times for Chelsea
Partnerships between football clubs and crypto companies have become very common. Manchester United became the first major English football club to ink a deal with blockchain startup Tezos, which is now the club’s trading kit sponsor. Additionally, the reigning Premier League champion, Manchester City closed a deal with the crypto exchange, OKX.
But, the timing of Chelsea's new cryptocurrency deal is raising questions. The United Kingdom government has sanctioned the club’s Russian oligarch owner Roman Abramovich as a response to the ongoing Ukraine war.
This has limited Cleasea FC, which is now operating under a special license, from several day-to-day operations. The club cannot sell new merchandise, and there is a freeze on the funds it receives.
The sanctions even forced Abramovich to put up the club for sale. An investor group led by the US financier, Todd Boehly, won an auction to acquire the football club, but the deal is now pending the UK government’s approval.
Moreover, the media reports highlighted that the sponsorship deal between Chelsea and WhaleFin was initially struck in January before the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.
WhaleFin, which is owned by Singapore-based Amber Group, is making other strides on the football field. Earlier it inked a €40 million deal with the Spanish football club, Athletico Madrid, putting its logo on the team’s shirts.
