:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/40320626/187544671.0.jpg)
Somehow we all missed this from Friday, even though it's fairly big news. And probably fairly big moneys, too. Even if you don't care about finances, the move is a forward-facing one: the shirt sponsor is the most obvious and most visible of all commercial agreements that a football club can have.
Did you know that we’re the next proud shirt sponsor of Chelsea? #football pic.twitter.com/iUChgWsUCN
— TurkishCorporateClub (@TKCorporateClub) September 26, 2014
(This tweet was taken down soon after everybody started picking up on the story. Make of that what you will.)
There had been rumors of Europe's second largest airline (in terms of destinations) taking over from Samsung earlier this month, and while that was widely reported, the actual official confirmation seems to have been missed by just about everybody. Then again, just sending one tweet out without even an official press release seems a rather weird way to go about announcing the deal.
The brand is brand new to the football shirt sponsorship scene; they started just last summer with Galatasaray and only for their Champions League shirts. They have been quite aggressive in their push into the new market however, which has included high profile ads with the likes of Lionel Messi, even. For Chelsea, they would be our third airline shirt sponsor.
No official word on the money involved yet, but the rumors placed it at a healthy increase over Samsung's payments.
Via @estevecalzada, Turkish Airlines will be Chelsea's new shirt sponsor next year + will net club £25m py (£7m increase over Samsung deal).
— Jake Cohen (@JakeFCohen) September 16, 2014
A preview of what Chelsea's kit could look like next year with the Turkish Airlines sponsorship #cfc pic.twitter.com/SeBAdaSJiR
— Jake Cohen (@JakeFCohen) September 28, 2014