Ian MacNicol/Getty Images SportChelsea Football Club and its long-time kit sponsor Adidas have agreed to end their partnership six years earlier than planned. The deal was supposed to last until 2023 but it will now come to an end on June 30, 2017. The move appears to suggest Chelsea has opted to switch to a more lucrative partnership with an Adidas competitor. As a result of ending the deal early Adidas will receive a payment from Chelsea in 2017 that will "already positively impact the group's net income this year," the German sports brand said in a statement.