#11 Marcus Mellor, Burnley FC – How one of England’s oldest football clubs is engaging U.S. fans

Marcus Mellor is Head of Commercial at Burnley Football Club, who play in the English Football League (EFL) Championship.

One of England’s oldest football clubs, Burnley FC recently became the subject of U.S. investment, with a star-studded roster of investors including JJ and Kealia Watt and popular YouTube collective, Dude Perfect. Burnley FC is on a mission to leverage its partnerships to drive U.S. market growth.

But how is the club’s U.S. audience engagement strategy playing out so far? How does the club use first-party fan data to attract new sponsors? And how is its partnership with TikTok to stream live women’s matches disrupting sports viewing?

In episode 11 of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:

00:29 Introduction to Marcus and his role at Burnley

02:33 Who are Burnley FC?

03:30 The impact of American investment in English football

04:11 Why Burnley is focusing on expanding its fan base in the U.S.

05:46 How to engage new casual fans and avid loyal fans

07:20 JJ Watt and Dude Perfect – leveraging partnerships for U.S. growth

09:00 Communicating Burnley's core values at home and abroad

11:25 Burnley women's team’s unique streaming partnership with TikTok

14:09 How Burnley leverages fan data to engage new and existing fans

15:46 The importance of first and third-party data in Burnley’s growth

17:31 How Burnley uses data to attract new sponsors.

19:01 Burnley’s Take Me to Turf competition in the U.S.

20:25 Explaining promotion and relegation to U.S. investors

23:23 What the data says – Burnley's digital growth