Chelsea and Uber kick-off shirt delivery partnership… but not in London where the club is based
English football side Chelsea has partnered with ride-hailing app Uber to deliver shirts to fans across the world.
Uber users in Cape Town, Los Angeles, Moscow, Mumbai, New York City, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai and Tokyo will be in with a chance of winning the club’s new shirt, up to five days before it goes on general sale by ticking the ‘Chelsea’ option in the app.
Fraser Robinson, EMEA head of business at Uber, said: “We are thrilled to team up with Chelsea FC - one of the top football teams in the world - for this exclusive promotion, which represents a first for Uber in the world of sports.
“We are always looking for ways to make the Uber experience even better for our millions of riders worldwide, and can’t wait to deliver Chelsea’s highly anticipated kits to fans.”
The scheme gives Uber users the chance to win the strip - although notably runs outside of the UK, despite the club being based in London.
VentureBeat first noted, however, that the deal did not evade the ire of Chelsea fans, who were critical in the back drop of London cabbies revolting against the industry disrupter.
Not a fan of @ChelseaFC teaming up with Uber. Boo!
— Chelsea HQ (@Chelsea_HQ) July 16, 2015
Chelsea FC teaming up with Uber is an absolute disgrace. Uber are ruining the livelihoods of many Chelsea fans and even more Londoners.
— ChelseaFansChannel (@ChelseaFansYT) July 16, 2015
Any Chelsea supporting cabbies please tweet @ChelseaFC and let the Club know our feelings about associating with Uber
— trev (@wellingblueboy) July 17, 2015
Of course, the recipients of the new jerseys will probably not be as critical of the app.
@uber_rsa I love you! Thanks for the Chelsea Jersey! http://t.co/5xE0bqk0bW pic.twitter.com/4gsbuVV9wp
— Tom Kennedy (@tkennedysa) July 17, 2015