Twitter Explodes Over Underdog English Soccer Champion

Jonathan Vanian is a former Fortune reporter. He covered business technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data privacy, and other topics.

Leicester City fans celebrate in the street after their team's away soccer match against Manchester United, outside Hogarth's pub in Leicester
Leicester City fans celebrate in the street after their team's away soccer match against Manchester United, outside Hogarth's pub in Leicester, Britain May 1, 2016 REUTERS/Eddie Keogh - RTX2CC3Z
© Eddie Keogh / Reuters REUTERS

An underdog English soccer team has captured the hearts of Twitter users.

Leicester City, whose mascot is the Foxes, became the champions of England’s Premier League following a draw between Tottenham and Chelsea on Monday. The news caused a 86% spike in Twitter (TWTR) activity in the United Kingdom, Twitter said.

English soccer fans have become accustomed over the years to seeing wealthy teams like Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal dominate the Premier League. Many sports fans saw this year’s rise of Leicester City as the soccer equivalent of the fictional Bad News Bears, although in the movies, the lovable losers didn’t win the championship.

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Here’s a couple of Tweets from excited Leicester City fans:

 

 

https://twitter.com/Marcus55/status/727284111463878665

 

https://twitter.com/PremiereFootbal/status/727284100629946368

 

In March, Fortune reported on Leicester’s rise as soccer’s top underdog that dominated the season compared to its far-richer competitors.

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Leicester City had $150 million in revenue last year compared to Manchester’s clubs, United and City, which brought in $568 million and $507 million in revenue respectively, according to the report.