Chelsea, of English soccer’s top-tier Premier League, have terminated their sponsorship deal with Oman Air, the national carrier, according to reports.
The multi-year agreement announced in July 2023, reportedly worth $2.5 million per season, had been the airline’s first-ever Premier League club partnership.
However, at the time of writing, Oman Air is no longer featured on the club partners section of Chelsea’s website.
Reports suggest that this is due to an issue from Oman Air’s side, with the company believed to be in the process of downsizing, and a number of senior managers connected to the Chelsea deal having apparently left the firm.
While neither Chelsea nor Oman Air have commented or disclosed any details, if reports are to be believed then Chelsea currently do not have first-team front-of-shirt, sleeve or airline sponsors confirmed for next season.
The club's front-of-shirt deal with Infinite Athlete and sleeve partnership with BingX are both understood to run through the remainder of 2023-24 only.
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By GlobalDataThe reported termination comes amid financial trouble for the West London club, as last week it was announced that Chelsea lost £90.1 million ($114.8 million) pre-tax in the 2022-23 financial year.
This does, while still a significant loss, actually represent an uptick in the club’s financial situation compared to the end of 2021-22, when the reported pre-tax loss was £121.4 million.
Over the last three seasons for which accounts have been published – 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 – Chelsea have made an aggregate pre-tax loss of £367.1 million.
While Premier League regulations do only allow clubs to lose £105 million over a three-year period, there are various ways in which costs out of these losses can be deducted, and therefore not apply to profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
However, given that Chelsea’s 2023-24 accounts will include at least £400 million spent in outgoing transfer fees for players signed in recent transfer windows, the club is highly likely to face a challenge in being compliant with PSR in the near future.
Chelsea currently sit in 11th place in the league, lost the EFL Cup final to Liverpool last month, and look unlikely at this stage to qualify for any lucrative UEFA pan-European competition next season.