Chelsea hope to double revenue to £650m in next decade with 'premium' sponsors, says commercial chief

Chelsea hope to double their revenue to more than £650million within the next decade, according to the club’s recently appointed commercial director.

The Blues were ranked the fourth-highest earning Premier League side in this year’s Deloitte Money League, having slipped behind Arsenal to eighth in the rankings for the 2014-15 season.

Recent years have seen Chelsea agree major new sponsorship deals with kit suppliers Nike and Yokohama Rubber, but the Blues £122m of commercial earnings lags well behind the £178.7m and £272.1m Manchester City and Manchester United earn.

Townsend, who joined Chelsea in February, hopes to close that gap through association with “premium brands”, so that they rank alongside Manchester City and Bayern Munich in the top five.

“Manchester United, Manchester City and others have anywhere between 50 and 70 [sponsors]," Townsend told the Financial Times. “We plan to focus on more premium brands in a far more limited range of categories.”

Townsend further added that the “additional revenues” could be spent on further player acquisitions.

The Blues will already show a sizeable increase in their commercial earnings when the next Money League is published in January having inked a £60m-a-year deal with Nike to supplement the £40m-a-year from Yokohama Rubber and £10m-a-year from Carabao, who sponsor their training kit.

Standard Sport revealed in May that Chelsea had begun considering buyers for the naming rights to their new £500m stadium, for which they received planning permission in May, though they intend to retain Stamford Bridge in the title.