Why Visit Detroit became prominent sponsor for English soccer team Burnley FC

Detroit's name will be prominently attached to one of the oldest soccer clubs in England for the next three years, thanks to an unorthodox marketing deal struck by the city's tourism bureau.

Over the next three seasons of professional English soccer, Visit Detroit will be the primary travel sponsor for Burnley FC, a club founded in 1882 and which played its most recent season in the top-flight English Premier League. The partnership means Visit Detroit advertisements will be featured in Burnley's Turf Moor stadium and the player's tunnel leading onto the field. Visit Detroit was also a jersey sponsor on the Burnley kits during the past week's pro-am tournament with American celebrities played in the United States.

"We thought this was an amazing opportunity, not only to receive coverage in the area of England around Manchester, but also all their opponents," Visit Detroit CEO Claude Molinari told the Free Press on Friday. "Whether they're in the Premier League, which is the top-watched sporting league in the world, or the Championship (England's second division), where they're going to be. We are excited to expose our brand to this market of European potential travelers to the United States."

The sponsorship was announced last week and runs through the conclusion of the 2026-27 season. It is one of the most expensive marketing campaigns run by Visit Detroit to date, with the bill reaching seven figures by the end of the three-year deal, Molinari said, though Visit Detroit declined to give an exact figure.

The funding for the deal comes from the COVID-relief grant given out to the Michigan Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (MACVB), which amounted to $10 million across the state, in a nationwide effort to help travel industries recover from the pandemic and Visit Detroit's budget. Visit Detroit is "about to receive" around 18% of the relief grant from the treasurer, or approximately $1.8 million, according to Molinari. Visit Detroit will use some of the COVID funds to fund the Burnley deal, along with money from its traditional budget, and other city marketing projects.

"As opposed to sprinkling it around like 'a little bit over here, a little bit over there' kind of sponsorship, we said let's really do something that's going to make a big difference, that we can say is going to make a splash," Molinari said.

The sponsorship includes Visit Detroit-branded warmups Burnley will wear coming off the bus entering the stadium and on warmup gear sold in merchandise stores, a Detroit-specific design on the player tunnel with Visit Detroit branding, advertisements on the sideline and stadium videoboards during matches, and sponsored social media posts.

"Anybody watching on TV will be seeing that," Molinari said. "And of course, it's not just all the folks in Burnley but all the folks, all the opponents they are playing. They're playing for a worldwide audience."

Visit Detroit, an organization responsible for trying to attract events such as the NFL draft, conventions and tourists to the Metro Detroit region, sees the partnership with Burnley as a way to continue to branch out internationally to achieve the goal of having 25 million people visit Southeast Michigan by 2030.

The popularity of soccer internationally, specifically in England and Europe, coupled with Burnley's existing ties to the United States through minority owners former NFL star J.J. Watt and his wife, former U.S. women's soccer player Kealia as well as popular sports YouTube group Dude Perfect, pushed Visit Detroit to partner with the Clarets over other teams in England. Those established brands will help Visit Detroit's online presence, Molinari said, and hopefully increase social media growth.

"J.J. Watt wearing Visit Detroit gear and Dude Perfect doing spots highlighting this destination, those are not just value adds, they are significant value to us," Molinari said.

The first year of the sponsorship will happen with Burnley playing in the English Championship, the second division. The Clarets played the most recent season in the Premier League but were relegated after finishing 19th of 20 teams, eight points below the cutline. Burnley was promoted to the EPL from the Championship after finishing first in the second division in 2022-23, and previously spent 2016-22 in the EPL.

The cost of the sponsorship year-to-year depends on the league Burnley will play in each of the three seasons. The first year of the deal is guaranteed to be in the Championship, but if Burnley is promoted to the top flight again, the price will go up for Visit Detroit.

"We kind of hedged our bets both ways so that it is in both our best interests," Molinari said. "If they are in the top league, then we are getting a little bit of a bargain and if they're in the second tier, then we're perhaps paying a little more than what we might have if we would have negotiated it a little more aggressively, but we liked the plan.

"We're looking forward to a really exciting season where they, hopefully, will be one of the very top teams in the Championship and we'll be able to celebrate the ride back to the biggest league in the world."

On top of choosing to market in one of the biggest sports markets globally, Visit Detroit sees marketing through sports and sports tourism through events like the draft and Detroit Grand Prix as a key way to meet the goal of having 25 million visitors to the area by 2030. Also, it was a way to stand out compared to other cities looking to attract people as Detroit re-establishes its global identity as a city.

"I guess it is a bit of a provocative move and I think some of our competitors are going to be like, 'what are they doing, I don't know if I would do that,'" Molinari said. "But Detroit, we're using our moves in various ways and we're going to be unconventional, especially as we're reintroducing ourselves. And we feel this is an excellent opportunity to do that in an untraditional manner."

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Visit Detroit is sponsoring English soccer team Burnley FC