LEICESTER ROCKING ALL OVER THE WORLD
Foxes a global phenomenon
UNITED STATES
Leicester matches have been shown live on American TV 19 times this season against 13 times in the whole of the previous one. Even their game against Aston Villa attracted more than a million viewers, making it a top-10 draw of the season. They will be playing in the International Champions Cup this summer, earning millions from fixtures against Barcelona, PSG and Celtic.
UNITED KINGDOM
Leicester were screened just eight times live by Sky and BT Sport combined last season as they struggled at the bottom. This season that will almost double to 15 live matches and more viewers per game. Last season they earned £71.6million from Premier League central funds for finishing 13th after their great escape. This season that will be close to £100m from TV alone.
ALGERIA
Riyad Mahrez (below, centre) has made Leicester a household name. Sports writer Samir Lamari says: ‘Before Mahrez, Leicester were unknown in Algeria where Liverpool was the most popular club. Now Leicester are more popular, with more viewers than the local league.’ Big crowds gather at cafes to watch games and replica shirts are selling despite a £45 price tag, close to half of what a low-paid worker makes in a month.
SOUTH AMERICA
In Brazil, Leicester have been nicknamed by locals as the Premier League’s ‘Prince Charming’ while in Argentina they are ‘Cinderella’. Columnist Claudi Mauri noted in an essay that the city’s diverse ethnic sports stars include Argentina rugby hero Marcos Ayerza at Leicester Tigers as well as the football club’s striker Leonardo Ulloa.
NORTHERN EUROPE
Leicester are often the ‘main feature’ match in the 3pm slot on Saturdays in France, for whom N’Golo Kante has won his first cap this season. In Denmark media have focused on the possibility of a second Schmeichel (below, left) becoming a Premier League-winning goalkeeper. The Foxes are also the most featured team on Viasat Baltic in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
AFRICA
Figures supplied by the continent’s Premier broadcaster SuperSport show audiences for Leicester games are up 78 per cent as their story has caught the imagination. Ghana stars Jeff Schlupp and Daniel Amartey are a part of the reason.
THAILAND
Thai-owned Leicester were the the fifth-most popular PL team last season with 10.5m watching their games live. Only the Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Chelsea had more. King Power stores have sold out of replica shirt. Globally, Leicester will be vying to be the sixth-most watched PL team on TV this season and could make the top 10 in the world.
JAPAN
Shinji Okazaki’s presence in the team has made Leicester a huge story, and every game is shown live, drawing hundreds of thousands in the early hours of Sunday (as 3pm UK Saturday games end) and Monday (4pm Sunday). ‘People are paying attention, watching on TV,’ says Okazaki (left). ‘It’s become a big thing back home, a lot of people are supporting me and I’m very happy for that.’