Chelsea are returning to the United States of America for a pre-season tour this summer.
Frank Lampard's side, who expect to have Mauricio Pochettino in charge come the end of the season, will take part in five games in the States in preparation for 2023/24. Chelsea will play in five different cities in July and August, staying in the East Coast time zone so as to avoid problems that annoyed Thomas Tuchel last summer.
Wrexham, Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle United, Fulham and Borussia Dortmund are the Blues' opponents with the action beginning in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Philadelphia is the next stop on the tour before trips to Atlanta, Landover and Chicago.
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Heading to the US will be crucial for the Blues' prospects of furthering their brand with the club's American owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, keen to grow revenue streams. Chelsea have already signed up one sponsor for the tour, FICO, which is described as a 'world leading provider of analytics software, solutions and services'.
FICO will be the headline sponsor of the pre-season tour, which the club hopes will be the biggest in its history. "We're excited about developing a strategic partnership between Chelsea and FICO," Tom Glick, president of business at Chelsea FC, said.
"The first incarnation of this is teaming up on Chelsea's pre-season tour this summer where we will be working closely to make a positive impact on the communities that we will be visiting. "We are committed to making this one of the biggest and most successful tours in the club’s history, so are delighted to be able to partner with such an industry-leading business to help achieve that goal."
The Blues will be hoping their pre-season tour sets them up for a better campaign than last year's. Tuchel lamented the crossing of time zones and the travelling involved, with Chelsea thumped 4-0 by London rivals Arsenal in Florida last July.
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