Chelsea signs crypto firm Circle as shirt sponsor after four years

Chelsea signed a one-year front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin. Chelsea had gone four years without a front-of-shirt sponsor. The Circle logo will debut on Sunday when Chelsea host Brighton. Chelsea's previous major shirt deal with Three UK ended in 2023. Infinite Athlete and Damac then provided interim sponsorships. The Sponsor cut its valuation of Chelsea's shirt by £16.7 million in June to £33.6 million. The Sponsor attributed the reduction to Chelsea missing out on European football. The Sponsor valued Liverpool's shirt at £61 million. Chelsea said the Circle deal matches its market rate. That rate is estimated at about £50 million per season. USDC is the sixth-largest crypto asset with a value of about $73.6 billion. Circle obtained a French e-money license in July 2024. Circle became the first major stablecoin issuer cleared under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets rules. The FCA had warned Premier League clubs about unauthorized financial sponsors. FCA Director of Consumer Investments Lucy Castledine said clubs should not let unauthorized financial firms exploit fans' trust by promoting potentially unsafe products. Full FCA oversight of stablecoin issuers begins in October 2027. The Circle deal ends five months before that oversight begins.