English Premier League football club Chelsea has expanded its partnership with Yokohama by naming the Japanese tyre manufacturer’s Alliance Tyres brand as its sleeve sponsor.
Alliance Tyres’ branding will feature on the left sleeve of Chelsea’s shirts as part of the agreement, which will run through the 2017-18 season.
Yokohama’s logo already features on the front of Chelsea’s shirts as part of a five-year deal with the club spanning the 2015-16 to 2019-20 seasons. Alliance Tyres launched in Europe at the start of the year.
Chelsea commercial director Chris Townsend said: “The new opportunity to brand the sleeve of the iconic Chelsea shirt is perfect for the right partner that wishes to capitalise on the huge reach of the Premier League and the many millions of Blues fans around the world.
“Yokohama is a premium tyre brand which manufactures a range of innovative products and their business has gone from strength to strength since our partnership began in 2015. We look forward to continuing to help grow their wider business through the inclusion of the Alliance Tyres branding.”
Premier League club and league representatives agreed to allow sleeve badge sponsors starting from the 2017-18 season in November 2016. The sponsor logos will be a maximum size of 10cm x 10cm. The Premier League badge will remain on the other sleeve of the shirts.
Alliance Tyres’ branding featured on Chelsea’s shirts for the first time during the 3-0 friendly win over Premier League rival Arsenal in Beijing on Saturday.