Chelsea announce one-year front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with financial platform firm Circle

Chelsea have ended their search for a front-of-shirt sponsor by agreeing a one-year deal with internet financial platform company Circle.

The club has been in talks with the American-based firm for several months, and while the size of the investment remains undisclosed, sources have told The Athletic it is the going rate for a top Premier League club. Chelsea were looking in the region of £50-60million ($67.9m-$81.5m) a year.

While the initial contract is for the remainder of the season, there is an option to extend it for longer included in the agreement, according to club sources.

USDC will now be displayed on the front of the men’s, women’s and academy shirts in all competitions from now on, starting with the matches this weekend. That means it will be seen for the first time at Chelsea men’s Premier League game at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.

USDC, according to its website, “is a stablecoin issued by Circle, fully reserved by cash and cash equivalents for 1:1 redeemability with US dollars. It enables fast, low-cost, and accessible global transactions via blockchain technology.” It stands for “US Dollar Coin”.

The sponsorship will give another boost to the club’s financial figures, although Chelsea’s number of global partners has already been on the increase.

Jason Gannon, President and Chief Operating Officer at Chelsea, led the process. He said in a club release on Friday: ‘This partnership with Circle positions Chelsea at the forefront of football’s digital evolution.

“We are two organisations fixated by the future and are relentlessly innovating to be in the best position possible for the long-term. We look forward to beginning our journey with Circle — to introduce Circle to the Chelsea family and continue enhancing how we operate.”

• A long time coming – but questions over short-term deal

This has been a long time in the making and could be regarded as a case of better late than never.

Chelsea’s search for a front-of-shirt sponsor has been an ongoing process since the arrangement with UK network provider Three ended in 2023.

They found a partnership with Infinite Athlete for 2023-24, albeit it was put in place after the campaign had already begun.

There were short-term deals late in the season for Damac Properties (2024-25) and Industrial AI company IFS (2025-26) respectively but the agreement with Circle has the potential to be the first long-term front-of-shirt sponsor since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium took over in May 2022.