Not much links Monaco with Leicester City. One is a mostly-unloved ugly concrete urban sprawl that few normal people ever want to visit, and the other is a city in the heart of England.

But today they represent all that is wrong with one sport and – at least temporarily– right with another. And the lessons they have for business are profound.

First, Leicester. Its soccer team has pulled off an astonishing triumph. The 5,000-1 outsiders for the Premiership crown has beaten the world’s richest teams to win what is arguably the most prestigious and keenly-contested domestic prize in football.

In an era of ever-increasing television revenue, where the latest deal is worth £5.136bn, it was considered unthinkable that any team – let alone one that was almost relegated last season – could break the dominance of the traditional elite clubs. The cost of Leicester’s squad of also-rans, rejects and journeymen is just over £50m. Manchester City, on the other hand, spent £400m on theirs, Manchester United almost as much. Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea combined spent more than £750m on their players.

Leicester City football fans celebrate outside the King Power Stadium in Leicester, central England, on May 3, 2016, after the team won the English Premier League title on Monday May 2. (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

As well as beating the odds and winning the title, Leicester has been awarded a financial prize beyond its wildest dreams. In 2012, the club’s sponsorship income amounted to £5.2m. Now, the sports data and marketing firm Repucom estimates that Leicester City is set for a potential £150m boost for winning the Premier League title, consisting of Premier League prize money, Champions League participation cash and increased match day revenues from ticket and hospitality sales.

The football club’s win is also set to significantly increase its brand value. Last year, out of 50 top clubs, Brand Finance named Leicester City as the 42nd most valuable British football brand, worth around £75m. Its stunning success means the opportunities for more lucrative sponsorship deals have rocketed. For instance, Manchester United earns more than £53m alone from sponsors, Chelsea £40m. Leicester’s deal with its chief sponsor, King Power, is still at the agreed 2010 amount – £1m a year.

Brands will be flocking to the new club, especially in light of the fact that, in the past three months alone, more than 2.5 million new fans from across the globe have started following the club on social media. Last year, Leicester’s total social media fan base veered between a million and 1.5m.

But the key thing for English football, and why this unlikely victory is so important for motor racing, is that the Premier League – like Spain’s La Liga and German’s Bundesliga – was in danger of becoming predictable and boring.

It is 21 years since any team other than Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City or Manchester United won the top-flight title. The narrative to each season was being written before a ball had been even kicked. The big teams undoubtedly carried enormous global clout and made the Premier League so exciting to a growing fan base, yet it had lost its shine. When Davids have no chance against Goliaths, it just gets boring.

There is, of course, a counter-argument and one which a senior economist friend believes could well lead to a decline in football revenue, especially on television. The reality, he says, is that ‘Sky viewing figures are slumping, everyone likes Leicester but no one watches them in live Premier League games. And BT (which shows live games between Europe’s top clubs) is very worried about the Champions League next year because although Leicester has qualified as a top seed it doesn’t have as broad an international following as top British clubs such as Manchester United.’

However, Goliath-domination does present a problem, as is the case with Formula One, which is based in Monaco. Even one of its leading drivers, Sebastian Vettel, recently warned that overcomplicated rules and an obsession with technology were risking the sport’s future. The figures, admittedly, are still pretty healthy – recent estimates suggest the value of Formula 1’s parent company, Delta Topco, is close to $5billion.

Vettel might well have added that the dominance of his rivals at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, represented what Ecclestone has been warning about. Vettel himself was accused ofturning people off the sport when he won four straight championships from 2010 to 2013. But he’s been superseded. Before the new season began, Rosberg and Hamilton had won 32 of the previous 38 races. This season, Rosberg has won all four races and already the combined points total of the teammates is 157. Their nearest rival is Ferrari’s Kimi Raikonnen with 43.

SOCHI, RUSSIA – MAY 01: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP raises his trophy for his second placed finish on the podium, Russian President Vladimir Putin applauds during the Formula One Grand Prix of Russia at Sochi Autodrom on May 1, 2016 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

And the Grand Prix Drivers Association added: ‘Formula One is currently challenged by a difficult global economic environment, a swift change in fan and consumer behaviour and a decisive shift in the TV and media landscape. This makes it fundamental that the sport’s leaders make smart and well-considered adjustments.’

But such warnings miss the obvious problem. The brand itself is being tarnished because the thing that makes sport so fascinating, addictive and wonderful to watch even for the neutral has been excised. Its unpredictability, its ability to surprise, the thrill of not quite knowing what the result will be, the joy of seeing the underdog triumph.

Of course fees from Formula 1 race hosts and broadcasters are still incredibly healthy. They comprise more than $1.2bn of F1’s total revenue with a further $161m coming from TV production. Advertising and sponsorship from brands like Rolex and the Emirates airline are worth more than $250m. There will always be brands who want to be associated with motor racing but the desire for that brand involvement can only increase if the sport becomes more interesting.

That is what Leicester City’s glorious win has done for the Premier League brand. It has made it more interesting. Perhaps Atletico Madrid will now do the same thing for the Champion’s League, as Denmark and Greece so memorably did for the European Championships.

Yes, these victories are fleeting. The richest Goliaths always return triumphantly and teach the upstarts a lesson. But brands constantly need refreshing and that’s what Leicester’s minnows have done. They’ve shown that it can happen through old-fashioned human endeavour, teamwork and self-belief. Formula 1 needs to temper its obsession with technology and similarly liberate its competitors if it wants to continue to thrill its fans – and make even more money.

Article Written By: Grant Feller of Forbes