Looks like Chelsea officials have been busy behind the scenes trying to sell the naming rights to Stamford Bridge.
Multiple reports today say that Chelsea, who have been asking have £100m for a 10-year deal, have failed to get a single serious bid.
It is 17 months since chief executive Ron Gourlay announced he was ready to open talks on stadium sponsorship. But Gourlay admitted:
“The naming rights issue is not going to be resolved in the near future. We are still looking for a suitable partner. If that doesn`t happen we will go down a different route. Protecting the name of Stamford Bridge is the key to any deal. It`s got to be the right partner with the right values for the club and for the fans.”
£100m over 10-years is a lot of money. Arsenal‘s deal for the Emirates was £100m over 15-years and that included an eight-year shirt sponsorship.
The challenge for Chelsea is that they play in a smaller stadium that UK rivals Arsenal and Man United, not to mention European rivals like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. A smaller stadium means that Chelsea’s matchday revenue is a lot smaller than that of their rivals.
The only way for Chelsea to compete going forward under the new UEFA fair play rules, is to find bigger commercial revenue streams than their rivals. Without, I cannot see how Chelsea can compete past this upcoming transfer window.
