Tech firm Infinite Athlete to Support Chelsea Football Club Following Stake.com Withdrawal in Sports Sponsorship
English Premier League (EPL) soccer team Chelsea has faced difficulties in finding a suitable front-of-shirt sponsor. Initially, they lost Paramount due to the league's objections regarding potential conflicts with its broadcasting agreements. Later, an unidentified cryptocurrency company collapsed, leaving Stake.com as a potential alternative. However, after facing backlash from fans, Chelsea needed to find a new sponsor quickly before the start of the new season.
Infinite Athlete, a U.S.-based sports tech data company, is reportedly readying to fill the void. The league had concerns about Paramount's deal, and initially considered insurance company Allianz. However, Chelsea opted to change directions.
Chelsea then turned to an unknown crypto company that couldn't keep up with the market demands. Stake.com, which already had a strong presence in the EPL, seemed like a suitable alternative. But after fan backlash against gambling sponsors, Chelsea had to find a new sponsor.
Infinite Athlete, which aims to "create a single technological foundation across all major sports, upon which innovative sports technology and media products can be built," is said to pay £50 million (US$63.83 million) for the branding rights. This is £10 million (US$12.76 million) more than what Stake.com was willing to pay.
Chelsea and Infinite Athlete have previously partnered, with the club's app incorporating new technology known as Match View X that provides better control over data during matches. Tempus Ex Machina, the parent company of Infinite Athlete, acquired biomechanics engineering firm Biocore, leading to the formation of Infinite Athlete. Jeff Crandall, chair of the NFL's Engineering Committee, now serves as a board member for Tempus Ex.
Infinite Athlete's sponsorship deal isn't guaranteed to be in place in time for Chelsea's season opener against Liverpool on Sunday. As of now, DraftKings has Chelsea as +185 underdogs while Liverpool is the +135 favorite.
Despite efforts to limit gambling sponsorships, these deals remain attractive to sports clubs due to their financial benefits. According to Caytoo, only one gambling sponsor has dropped from the EPL in the past year, although gambling still holds the largest share of front-of-shirt sponsorships in the soccer sector (15.4%). With the "Industrials" segment growing to become the leading category of front-of-shirt sponsors in English sports (14.5%), there has been a shift from gambling.
However, the broader sports industry sees a significant dependence on gambling money. Alex Burmaster, founder and Head of Research and Analysis at Caytoo, comments, "This shows that the economic realities and fierce competition in football trump other considerations and the clubs will need to keep taking gambling’s money until they’re no longer legally allowed to."
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Source: www.casino.org
