The owners of English football champions Leicester City said that "they will resist attempts by more glamorous rivals to lure away their title-winning players, after an unlikely triumph that has captured the imagination of fans worldwide," according to Webb & Skulpichetrat of REUTERS. Duty-free magnate Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha became the "first Thai owner of an English Premier League title-winning team on Monday night." Leicester's journey from 5,000-1 outsiders to English champions has "captivated football lovers everywhere, but also prompted predictions that the team could be broken up in the off-season" as bigger clubs look to poach its best players. Vichai's son and club Vice-Chair Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said, "We are not the team that will sell players for money. So, I can confirm that we will keep all major players with the team, such as Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, N'Golo Kante or Kasper Schmeichel." The "Siam Foxes" support base has "ballooned with the team's success." Club Corporate Relations Manager Rattananuch Lohachala said that the Leicester City Thai Facebook page "had nearly 600,000 likes as of Tuesday, compared with 5,000-6,000 at the start of the season." Rattananuch said that more than 1,000 fans "gathered at King Power on Sunday for the team's last match, when the company laid on free food and beer." King Power is "planning a celebration at the same venue in Bangkok" when the team plays its next game on May 7. Replica shirts have "sold out in Britain and Thailand, a missed opportunity for Vichai and King Power and driving fans to Thailand's counterfeit market." Sompot Thavornchareon, working at a sports shirt stall in Bangkok's weekend Chatuchak market, said, "Leicester shirts are selling as well as Barcelona shirts" (REUTERS, 5/3). The AFP reported the club owners have "been lavished with praise for their savvy handling of the club's financial and personnel affairs -- including the summer replacement of sacked Manager Nigel Pearson with Claudio Ranieri." Top, as Aiyawatt is "better known," said, "We plan six months in advance. We plan on buying players six months in advance and have contacted some already" (AFP, 5/3).
MAJOR WINDFALL: REUTERS' Ian Chadband reported Leicester City has the chance of making anything between £150M ($218M) and £250M ($363.5M) from its "sensational Premier League triumph, according to sports marketing experts." The city of Leicester in England's Midlands "should also expect to enjoy a huge commercial boost after its hometown team wrote the unlikeliest of sporting success stories." With Leicester's increasing attraction to sponsors as the champions of the Premier League, "it could all be worth as much as" £150M to the club, according to Repucom. Other experts have "put the estimates much higher" with some British media reports suggesting that the figure could be much nearer to £250M, "particularly if Leicester's success proves to be more than a one-season wonder." Leicester's TV audiences "have soared by over 23% globally this season and because of the excitement inspired" by its run to the title, audiences in the U.K. have grown from 785,000 to over 1 million per game. In Italy, the numbers "watching Leicester's games have doubled, largely thanks to the interest generated" by the club being managed by Ranieri. Leicester's first appearance in the "lucrative Champions League will also make a vast difference" to its coffers in the region of £36M ($52M) (REUTERS, 5/3).
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BOOST: BLOOMBERG's Tariq Panja reported Leicester will receive more than £90M ($131M) from the Premier League "for coming first," compared with the almost £72M ($104.7M) "it got after finishing 14th a year earlier." Playing in the Champions League is worth at least £30M ($44M) for the first debut English football champion "since local rival Nottingham Forest" in '78. Repucom Head of Consulting for the U.K. and Ireland Spencer Nolan said, "The task now is to optimize the value of those assets and ensure they attract the incomes Leicester City could now generate" (BLOOMBERG, 5/3). In London, Laurie Whitwell reported costs "will inevitably rise too, with players' salaries increasing." Last season, staff costs across the club amounted to £57M ($83M) -- up from £36.3M ($53M) in '13-14 -- and new contracts for Mahrez and Kante, each on around £40,000 ($58,172) per week, "are essential." Wes Morgan and Danny Simpson "will have one year left on their contracts in the summer," while Schmeichel, Marc Albrighton, and Danny Drinkwater have two years remaining. Ranieri, meanwhile, is "set to seal" a £5M ($7.3M) bonus by virtue of his clause to receive £100,000 ($145,430) "for every place he finishes above the relegation zone." Vardy signed a new deal in February, initially worth around £80,000 ($116,344) per week "and his earning potential, like others, will be enhanced" (DAILY MAIL, 5/3).
LAS VEGAS BOUND: In London, Laurie Whitwell reported Leicester City's players "will receive no extra bonus for winning the title than if they had finished seven places off the bottom, but plans are in place to go to Las Vegas for a post-season party." It is "a signal of Leicester's horizons last summer, terms drawn up make clear the emphasis on survival," with a £6.5M ($9.5M) pot "shared among the squad for ending the campaign in 12th or above." There were "no provisions made for finishing any higher, let alone in the Champions League places or on top of the pile." The club's owners "are sure to reward their squad handsomely however, with a trip to Vegas in the pipeline and the possibility of money to spend on the roulette tables." When the club won promotion from the Championship players "were treated to an expensive meal at a posh London restaurant" and each given a £1,000 ($1,454) chip to gamble at a nearby casino. A change to the bonus contract now "is not allowed under Premier League rules" (DAILY MAIL, 5/3).
BOOKMAKERS' BANE: The BBC's Emily Young wrote the "betting industry is licking its financial wounds." Betting firm Coral's Simon Clare said, "In the history of betting, certainly since it was legalized in 1961, a [single event] winner with odds of 5,000-1 has never happened. Every bookmaker is crying out in pain." Jessica Bridges from "rival Ladbrokes agrees." She said, "This is the biggest sporting upset of all time. We've all got a bit of egg on our face." Bookmakers, like Coral, "estimate the industry as a whole will have lost" around £20M ($29M). Yet "they sound almost as exhilarated and excited by Leicester City's win as the lucky punters and the fans, because although they are facing steep losses" as a result -- Coral £2M ($3M) and Ladbrokes £3M ($4.4M) -- for them it is "a great story" (BBC, 5/3).
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| Leicester Manager Claudio Ranieri |
RANIERI'S REACTION: The GUARDIAN reported Ranieri was "mobbed by media and fans" when he arrived at the club's Belvoir Drive training ground, "hailing his side's success as the highlight of his long career." Asked what his first top-flight title meant to him, the Italian said, "It means the job is good. I'm very happy now. Maybe if I had won this title at the beginning of my career I would have forgot. But now I am an old man, I can celebrate." No details of "when the customary open top bus tour have yet been revealed, although it is believed that will take place after the game against Chelsea." Mayor Peter Soulsby has "promised the city will celebrate for a very long time." Soulsby said, "Street names after him [Ranieri], freedom of the city, statues ... I don't know what it will be" (London GUARDIAN, 5/3).
MUGS OF ALL OF US: The BBC reported Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore said that Leicester's unprecedented title triumph "made mugs of all of us." Scudamore: "It's probably the biggest sporting story ever and the biggest sporting achievement ever. Nobody saw it coming and even when it was halfway through the season nobody said it could be sustained." Scudamore added that "Leicester 2016" would stand as a "landmark moment in British sport" (BBC, 5/3).
