It "took just 30 minutes for Leicester City's Thai billionaire owner to decide to buy" the English football club in '10, according to Temphairojana & Dhanananphorn of REUTERS. It "now looks like an inspired investment." The "club was struggling" in English football's second tier at the time. It has "since won promotion to the premiership, and, remarkably, sits at the very top of the world's richest league with over half the season gone." ManU, Man City and Arsenal are all "chasing hard, but in one of the sport's biggest surprises of recent years, the giants of the national game can't catch a team that many had expected to be dragged into a relegation scrap." For owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha the "priority is to ensure the club from central England and its supporters do not get carried away." And while his son and club Vice-Chair Aiyawatt prefers to keep discussions on football and money separate, "Leicester's ascent brings with it plenty of business opportunities." Aiyawatt, who runs the club from "behind the scenes" while his father makes strategic decisions, said, "Anything can happen, so we need to keep our feet on the ground." He said, "It doesn't just depend on us. The big teams are not doing well ... That's why middle or small teams can make some difference. This season is a bit unusual, but it's quite good for football in England." It could "also be good for King Power," the travel retail company Vichai founded in '89. Vichai, a self-made businessman whose personal fortune is estimated by Forbes at $3B, "wants to use Leicester's growing international appeal to boost Thai brands abroad via a new online business under development." Leicester's performance "means the 100 million pounds or so that Vichai and his family have poured into the club so far will reap dividends more quickly." With "premiership survival all but guaranteed, Leicester can plan ahead on surer footing." Next season will bring the biggest payday yet for Premier League clubs "thanks to a record-breaking" £5.1B ($7.3B) TV deal with Sky and BT that runs from '16-19. Leicester City Commercial Dir Ian Flanagan said, "We are getting a significant amount of international attention and are on the radar of more international companies. We are the good news story of the Premier League this year." Aiyawatt, nicknamed "Top," puts the success "down to old-fashioned family values." He said, "It's the Thai culture. We give our time to the staff, the players, and to the manager. We try to manage it like a family, try to listen to the problems of every single member of staff" (REUTERS, 1/31).
