Chelsea FC to Use Industrial AI for Performance
Chelsea Football Club has selected IFS, a provider of Industrial AI software, as its new principal partner. The multi-year global partnership will involve the club leveraging IFS's AI technology to enhance performance analytics and operations both on and off the pitch.
- The partnership designates IFS as Chelsea's Principal Partner, with its logo appearing on the front of the team's shirts for the remainder of the 2025/26 season before transitioning to a broader global sponsorship role that will last until 2028. - This deal ends a period where Chelsea was the only Premier League club without a permanent front-of-shirt sponsor, following the conclusion of their agreement with telecommunications firm Three in 2023. - In the interim, the club utilized short-term front-of-shirt deals with sports technology firm Infinite Athlete and property developer Damac. - IFS specializes in AI for industrial settings, providing services for enterprise resource planning (ERP), asset management (EAM), and field service management across sectors like aerospace, manufacturing, and telecommunications. - This is not Chelsea's first use of AI; the club has previously worked with the company `ai.io` to use artificial intelligence for scouting and assessing academy-level players. - The application of AI in football is growing, with other clubs like Liverpool FC collaborating with Google to develop models that can predict corner kick outcomes and inform tactical strategies. - Key executives involved in the deal include Chelsea FC President Jason Gannon and IFS Chief Executive Officer Mark Moffat. - The IFS branding debuted immediately on the men's team jerseys for their match against Burnley and on the women's team kits for their match against Manchester United.
