Todd Boehly suggests Chelsea ownership could split over stadium decision

The billionaire insisted the shareholders are ‘aligned’ but indicated plans for the stadium’s future could cause a deeper rift

Todd Boehly has a fractious relationship with Chelsea's majority shareholder Clearlake Capital (Getty Images)

Todd Boehly has suggested that Chelsea’s ownership could split over a disagreement on the future of the club’s stadium.

Boehly and majority shareholder Clearlake Capital have clashed openly in recent months and have both explored the idea of buying each other out, with the civil war set to resume over plans for a new stadium.

The owners are not satisfied with Stamford Bridge’s current capacity of a little over 40,000, with one option to expand the stadium. The club acquired a 1.2 acre site next to the stadium from Stoll, a housing charity for veterans, which would help facilitate this development. Another option is to move away from Stamford Bridge altogether to a site in Earl’s Court, which the The Guardian reported could cost £500m, but no offer has been made for it.

“We’ve learned from each other and I think we’re really going to be able to work it out any which way,” Boehly said when asked about the club’s ownership in an interview with Bloomberg.

“We have to think long term about what we’re trying to accomplish. We have a big stadium development opportunity that we have to flesh out.

“That’s going to be where we’re either aligned or we ultimately decide to go different ways.”

Clearlake, a US private equity firm, hold a 61.5% stake in Chelsea with Boehly owning just 12.8% but maintaining a lot of influence over the club’s operations. Relations between the firm and the billionaire deteroriated last year to the point that both parties wanted the other out, but neither side could break the deadlock.

“The status quo is something that’s just fine,” Boehly continued. “We’ve learned from each other and we’re going to be able to work it out any which way. If you look at the evolution of the team, we’ve been aligned on what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to build.

“It’s a team that’s young, it’s a team that’s got long contracts and in order to do all those things that we’ve done, obviously it’s because we’re aligned.”

After a turbulent few years since the takeover in 2022, Chelsea are fourth in the Premier League and on course for a return to Champions League action.