Chelsea Names Circle as New Front-of-Shirt Partner

Chelsea Football Club has named Circle, the issuer of USDC, as its Principal Partner and official front-of-shirt partner for the 2026/27 season.

According to the announcement published on Friday, August 28, Circle and its USDC stablecoin will appear on Chelsea’s men’s, women’s and academy shirts, with the branding set to make its first appearance when Chelsea host Brighton in their first Premier League home game of the season on Sunday. 

The deal is bringing a crypto-related company back to one of the most visible spots on the club’s shirts. This will also give Circle a way to put USDC in front of football fans around the world, while Chelsea gets a new commercial partner as the club continues to work with companies from the digital-asset industry. 

Circle talks about its global vision

Circle says USDC is made to move money globally at internet speed and can be used around the clock. The company sees this as a way to make sending money across borders easier, especially as stablecoins move into uses outside normal crypto trading.

For Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire, the Chelsea partnership fits that idea.

“Partnering with Chelsea connects us with a global sports community built on that exact same borderless vision,” Allaire said.

The Crypto Times has reached out to Circle for more comment on the partnership.

Chelsea continues to expand its crypto partnerships

Meanwhile, this deal also adds another chapter to Chelsea’s links with crypto companies. 

For instance, BingX, a crypto exchange, also partnered with the club in 2024 and later became the club’s Official Men’s Training Kit Partner for the 2025/26 season. 

Crypto companies have also built a growing presence across football, with research covered by Crypto.news in September 2024 finding 33 football sponsorship deals involving crypto firms since 2021. 

Circle continue to builds its global reach

For Circle, the Chelsea deal comes as the company works to expand the use of its stablecoin. Earlier this month, Circle renewed its USDC agreement with Coinbase for another three years through 2029. 

At the same time, the company also reported that its USDC circulation reached $73.3 billion at the end of the second quarter, up 19% from a year earlier, while earning $701 million in quarterly revenue and reserve income. 

Circle has also been building its regulated operations. On July 31, the company secured a New York trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services for Circle New York Trust. This followed federal approval for a separate Circle entity from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. 

The company has also looked beyond the U.S. for ways to use USDC. In July, Japanese payments group JCB agreed with a Circle affiliate to test USDC payments in Japan. The first part of the project will focus on JCB’s own cross-border money transfers, with possible merchant payments to be explored later.

Now, USDC will have a place on one of football’s biggest stages. Chelsea fans will see the Circle and USDC branding on the club’s shirts throughout the 2026/27 season, starting with the men’s home match against Brighton.

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