Leicester City have the opportunity of making anything between £150 million and £250 million from their dazzling Premier League triumph, according to sports marketing experts.
Even if they will gain this substantial windfall, they still have a long way to go to join the true big-money elite of world football.
The club that had never won the top-flight crown in its history will cash in through the £90 million in prize money from the Premier League, and money from competing in Europe’s Champions League next season, as well as increased TV and match day revenue.
With Leicester’s increasing attraction to sponsors as the champions of the Premier League, which possesses remarkable global appeal, it could all be worth as much as £150 million to the club, said the sports and entertainment intelligence firm, Repucom, on Tuesday.
Leicester’s TV audiences have soared by over 23% globally this season and because of the excitement inspired by their run to the title, audiences in the UK have grown from 785 000 to over one 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 Italian coach Claudio Ranieri.
“Leicester’s media values have jumped by 30 percent globally whilst in the US they have grown by over 70 percent, showing first-hand the increase in value to current and potential sponsors,” Repucom said.
Leicester’s first appearance in the lucrative Champions League will also make a vast difference to their coffers in the region of £36 million.
As well as increased TV exposure, it will generate increased revenues from group stage fees, a proportion of the competition’s market pool and a participation bonus, totalling £33 million, as well as £3 million performance bonus.
A story which had echoes of Leicester’s triumph was Atletico Madrid’s breaking of the Barcelona-Real Madrid duopoly to win La Liga in 2014.
Based on the increased match day and commercial revenues that unlikely champions Atletico gleaned, Leicester can expect to see between £10 to 15 million boost in that area.
“Leicester City FC’s real commercial potential will become clearer in the season break as brands vie to associate themselves to the club,” Spencer Nolan, head of consulting at Repucom, said.
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