And the rich get richer.
Chelsea will have a new shirt sponsor from next season, with Japanese tyre company Yokohama Rubber signing an initial five-year deal with the club, believed to be worth £40m a year.
The new deal is set to be the second largest shirt sponsorship deal in football, behind Manchester United’s £53m a year contract with Chevrolet.
It means that Chelsea will be more than doubling the revenue from their shirt sponsorship, with their £18m a year deal with Samsung ending at the close of the season.
After completing the deal this evening, Chelsea’s appropriately named chairman Bruce Buck said the deal would help the club’s marketability abroad (meaning even more money).
“Chelsea and Yokohama are a perfect fit. Both are global organisations with a focus on performance and innovation, as well as having huge ambition and an unwavering culture of success.
“We believe that Yokohama will play a key role in helping us drive our global expansion in international markets such as the US, where they have operated with distinction for many years. Also, of course, Chelsea having such an esteemed and historic Japanese company as our partner enables us to accelerate our development in their home market too.”
