Chelsea Taps Circle for One-Year Front-of-Shirt Partnership

Chelsea, a popular English football club, has partnered with the second-largest stablecoin issuer, Circle, bridging football with blockchain integration.

With the latest collaboration, Chelsea’s men, women, and academy players will wear shirts featuring Circle’s logo and the ticker of its flagship stablecoin, USDC. Circle will also serve as the football club’s Principal partner.

NEW FRONT OF SHIRT. 💙

Welcome to Chelsea, @USDC by @Circle. 🤝

From 2026/27, Circle becomes our new Principal Partner and Official Front-of-Shirt Partner across the men’s, women’s and academy teams.

Bringing together the global game and the future of finance.

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 28, 2026

Chelsea Partners Circle

Circle’s feature on the front of players’ shirts will commence from the 2026/27 season.

Notably, the public will see Circle and USDC displayed on Chelsea shirts at the “men’s first Premier League home game of the season this Sunday against Brighton.”

The women’s matches are expected to kick off in September. Ahead of the game, Aki Mandhar, the CEO of Chelsea FC Women, said:

“We are excited to introduce Circle and USDC to the Chelsea Women family for our inaugural season at Stamford Bridge. Forging and facilitating connections between people is what Chelsea Women and Circle do best and we look forward to bringing USDC to the CFCW fanbase and beyond.”

Recall that Circle has established its tentacles in the United Kingdom, the same territory where Chelsea is headquartered. Aside from the UK, the stablecoin issuer is actively traded in the European Union (EU) because it has secured regulatory approval under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).

Notably, this is a feat that Tether, the only stablecoin issuer surpassing USDC in market cap, has yet to achieve. Currently, Tether is not available in the EU because it does not have MiCA approval.

Football Clubs and Crypto Firms

This is not the first time that a football club has collaborated with a crypto firm for increased publicity.

Last year, Phantom, a popular Solana-based wallet provider, partnered with Alfreton Town, an English football club.

In December 2025, Tether revealed plans to acquire Italian football club Juventus. Already, the stablecoin issuer holds a 10.7% stake in the football club. However, no further information has been circulated regarding the acquisition offer.