Tottenham’s Chief Commercial Officer Todd Kline is reported to have joined Chelsea after leaving his job in North London. The American’s first appointment was followed by a wave of departures at Spurs, while he failed to meet Daniel Levy’s key target of securing the naming rights to the club’s state-of-the-art stadium.
Kline has been a member of the Spurs board of directors and chief executive since May 2021. His LinkedIn page says in the About section: “Tottenham has appointed a former NFL executive as the club’s first commercial director to help find a lucrative partner for the naming rights to the stadium.”
However, Kline will leave the club, whose pristine pitch will still be known as Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. According to The Athletic, he has resigned from his position and will join Chelsea after a period of gardening leave.
Spurs signalled his imminent departure with a blunt statement on their website, which read: “Todd Kline has resigned from his position at the club and has gone on gardening leave with immediate effect.”
Kline was said to have tried to “raise standards” immediately after his appointment, and shortly afterwards a number of commercial staff resigned. His leadership also reportedly raised “doubts” behind the scenes at Spurs.
Nevertheless, he will join Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly at Stamford Bridge in an as yet unknown senior business role. The Blues’ former chairman of commercial Tom Glick left his post, which is still vacant, last May.
Although Kline failed to fulfil Levy’s mission regarding the naming rights, he is expected to play an important role in Chelsea’s plans for a new stadium. Boehly et al are weighing up whether to rebuild Stamford Bridge or to build on another site, with securing the rights to the name again one of the priorities.
During his time at Spurs, Kline managed to negotiate lucrative sponsorship deals with INEOS and Cinch and a deal with Formula 1 to build a go-kart track under the stadium.
Chelsea are still not finding their feet under the ownership of Boehly and Clearlake Capital, with the former Champions League regular finishing a dismal 12th last season and current boss Mauricio Pochettino facing pressure to keep his job.
The Blues are 11th in the Premier League standings and have more defeats than wins this season, beating Wolves 4-2 at home on Sunday afternoon.