NBC Sports Network said Leicester City were champions for 375 days from when they clinched the title to yesterday, when Chelsea clinched the title. However, Leicester City was eliminated from winning the title weeks ago, so should a club stop being the "defending champions" as soon as they cannot repeat as champions?
Conducting a poll would have been interesting. Chelsea fans like to claim that from 15-25 May 2013 they were the defending champions / holders of both the Europa League and Champions League trophies even though they had lost their grip on Big Ears on 20 November 2012... a claim they would have been embarrassed to make at the start of the 2012-13 campaign. I believe that once a team can no longer can successfully defend their title they go from "defending champion" to "former champion".