Monday, Leicester City just clinched what might be the most improbable championship in sports history:
We watch sports for improbable things, but things as unlikely as Leicester City’s win almost never happen. I’m not being hyperbolic. This is one of the most ridiculous things ever to happen in sports.
Leicester City faced ridiculous odds
Leicester City faced the longest odds ever to pay off at a modern-day sportsbook, with preseason odds giving the Foxes 5000-to-1 odds. ESPN chronicled other really, really long shots that have paid off, but none of them have approached Leicester. By comparison, some long shots for sports this year:
— 200-to-1: Philadelphia 76ers’ preseason odds to win the NBA championship
— 250-to-1: Cleveland Browns’ odds of winning the next Super Bowl
— 1000-to-1: Odds for No. 16 seeds to win the NCAA Tournament
BBC rounded up some novelty bets at various British sportsbooks that featured lower odds than Leicester City — such as Kim Kardashian being elected President, or Elvis being found alive. Honestly, Kim K could happen.
Leicester City hadn’t been good, or anything close, in a while
Leicester had never won the Premier League. They’d never finished in the top five. Their last top-10 finish was in 1999-2000. They were bad enough to get relegated to England’s second-tier league, the Football League Championship, in 2004. They were bad enough in England’s second-tier league that they got relegated to England’s third-tier league, League One, in 2008.
To be fair, they only spent one season in England’s third tier, quickly winning the League One title. But within the last 10 years, Leicester wasn’t one of the top 44 teams in English soccer. They weren’t good enough to be in the league for teams that aren’t good enough for the Premier League.
They finally made it back to the Premier League last year, and were close to getting relegated right back out. They finished in 14th, just six points clear of another trip down.
The Premier League is generally incredibly top-heavy
Like many European soccer leagues, the Premier League is historically dominated by the same few teams. Only five teams had ever won the Premier League, and one of those teams, Blackburn Rovers, won it just once, all the way back in 1995. (They’ve since been relegated out of the league.) In the 20 years since, Manchester United was won 11 times, Chelsea four times, Arsenal three times, and Manchester City twice.
The other teams in the league aren’t supposed to hope for titles. They’re just supposed to fill up the other 16 slots, and their fans are supposed to root for other things. Maybe they can win one of England’s other competitions, like the FA Cup or League Cup. Maybe they’ll beat their big rival. Maybe they’ll just be happy to stay in the Premier League. But winning the title? Never.
Leicester City’s win threw that logic out the window. Teams besides the elite few aren’t supposed to win, and even if somebody besides those teams did win, it wasn’t supposed to be Leicester City. But the Foxes ignored the odds and every other reason they weren’t supposed to win the damn thing and ended up champions of England.
It’s possible neither Leicester City nor any of England’s other perennial also-rans will ever achieve this again. But that doesn’t matter. Leicester’s championship will forever serve as a reminder that the unlikely is not the impossible.
