English Premier League soccer club Chelsea have expanded their global partnership with international e-commerce and merchandising giant Fanatics ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.
In addition to its merchandise sales role at Chelsea, which Fanatics has held since 2018, managing the club’s e-commerce operations, the latest extension will now see the company take on design and manufacturing rights.
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This means that Fanatics will be able to utilize its in-house merchandise design and manufacturing facilities to expand the range of Chelsea-licensed products available to fans.
For example, with Fanatics also holding the licensing rights to American football's NFL and Major League Baseball, it will now produce co-branded Chelsea football and baseball jerseys, allowing the company to maximize its merchandising rights across sports.
A new upgraded online store will be launched, complete with artificial intelligence to aid in streamlining the shopping experience and widen the store’s scope with new language and payment options.
Fanatics states that in the 2024 calendar year alone, it sold Chelsea merchandise in 130 different territories worldwide.
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By GlobalDataThis new “long-term” extension follows “double-digit” average merchandise sales growth across every year of the pair’s partnership since it began in 2018.
Speaking on the renewed partnership, Chelsea chief digital officer Phil Lynch commented: “Together, we are always looking for new and innovative ways to engage with our loyal fanbase, and with the launch of our new e-commerce platform, we have delivered a world-class shopping experience through personalisation and a best-in-class commerce experience.”
With Chelsea’s renewal secured, Fanatics now covers a quarter of all teams that will compete in the 2025-26 Premier League, with the others being Aston Villa, Everton, and the newly promoted pair of Leeds United and Sunderland.
Additionally, Fanatics is also partnered with England’s FA soccer governing body, for which it has delivered record merchandise sales.
Overall, more than 50 soccer clubs and organizations are partnered with Fanatics globally.
Most recently, the e-commerce giant struck an “ambitious” 10-year partnership with Italian giants Internazionale (Inter Milan).
Fanatics has a similar long-term deal in place with fellow Serie A side Juventus that runs through the end of the 2034-35 season. It also has an e-commerce deal in place with rivals AC Milan that started in April 2023.
The new deal comes shortly after Fanatics announced it had set a new international (excluding US) sales record after France's Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) won the UEFA Champions League club competition for the first time, beating Inter in the final.
Fanatics is the exclusive operator of PSG’s e-commerce business and is the master licensee for the entirety of its merchandising (barring Nike products and other co-branded offerings).
The partnership was announced ahead of Chelsea’s Club World Cup semi-final matchup against Brazilian side Fluminense today (July 8).
