EPL Club Chelsea Inks Four-Year Extension With Thomas Cook

Chelsea Retains Thomas Cook As Official Travel Partner In Four-Year Extension

English Premier League club Chelsea has "defied the gloom surrounding sports sponsorship by signing a multimillion-pound deal" with travel group Thomas Cook, keeping the company as the team's official travel partner, according to Ian King of the LONDON TIMES. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources indicated that while the original deal signed in '06 was "worth about [US$1.1M] a year to Chelsea, the new contract will be worth [US$9.0-10.5M] over four years." Thomas Cook will continue as a "platinum partner of Chelsea until 2012 and will continue to be responsible for all travel for the team and officials, as well as corporate and supporter travel, in Britain and overseas." That includes "official travel packages to all of Chelsea's away matches in the Champions League and domestic competitions." Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon: "This deal demonstrates a major vote of confidence from the business world in the strength of Chelsea as a sponsorship partner, as well as Premier League football in general, in what is a difficult economic climate." King notes the Chelsea deal highlights the "gulf in football finance between the Premier League's biggest clubs and the rest;" while Chelsea has been able to secure a "lucrative partnership of this kind, a number of other Premier League sides have failed even to secure shirt sponsors" (LONDON TIMES, 12/1).