Canadian province partnering with an English soccer team to attract immigrants. Will the purpose be achieved?
If you happen to catch an English Football League match, or play a video game involving a certain team, you might be surprised what’s on the players’ jerseys.
Starting this coming season, that will be a maple leaf and the words “Newfoundland and Labrador.”
The province has just entered a two-year partnership with fourth-tier Barrow AFC to promote itself as a destination for immigration.
While using a sport sponsorship to attract immigration is certainly innovative, the move has also drawn the ire of opposition politicians, who call it a waste of taxpayer dollars, especially at a time when the federal government is reining in immigration levels amid public backlash.
The choice of soccer and the U.K. has also raised some eyebrows.
“I suppose the hope is to attract people from England and Scotland?” asked sociology professor Anna Triandafyllidou, Canada Excellence Research Chair on Migration and Integration at Toronto Metropolitan University.
“This doesn’t seem like a very reasonable strategy. There are so many people that would appreciate this opportunity.”
To be clear, we’re not talking about the Premier League’s Arsenal or Manchester United. Barrow AFC plays in the English Football League 2, the fourth tier in English soccer, based in Barrow-in-Furness in the north, and its home stadium has a capacity of about 6,000.
The deal with Barrow allows the Newfoundland and Labrador name and brand — and its newly launched website HomeAwaits.ca — featured on the club’s home and away jerseys and as the team tours, viewed in broadcast, streaming platforms and the EA Sports’ FC 25 video game franchise.
Newfoundland, with 541,000 residents, has the second smallest population out of 10 provinces, just ahead of Prince Edward Island. It has set a target to welcome 5,200 newcomers by 2026. Last year’s total of 5,800 already surpassed that and the province is still trying to boost the numbers.
Immigration Minister Gerry Byrne said his province’s demographic situation is unique. While other provinces and territories are forecast to have positive population growth, he said Statistics Canada is predicting a decline for Newfoundland and Labrador in the coming years.
“We’re doing everything in our power to defeat that forecast,” Byrne told the Star.
The province has tried hard to boost its population.
During COVID, it put up newspaper ads to attract other Canadians and North Americans who could now work remotely to relocate to the province. When Russia invaded Ukraine, it set up an office in Poland to reach out to displaced Ukrainians and encourage them to settle there. To address the shortage of nurses, it now has a presence in southern India for recruitment.
“We have to use our imagination to think outside of the box,” said Byrne.
Sports marketing expert Cheri Bradish said governments and public institutions have gotten more creative in ad space and sports sponsorships. In February, the National Hockey League named Tourism Prince Edward Island its official travel destination partners, and two months later, George Brown College became the Toronto Raptors’ official college partner.
The professor at TMU’s Ted Rogers School of Management said Newfoundland’s partnership is definitely unique in its attempt to drive migration.
“Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world,” said Bradish. “There’s a very mass-marketed appeal in that particular region. That must be part of the reasons that Newfoundland was interested in that partnership.”
Byrne said the campaign aims at attracting young families, especially the skilled talents who are temporary residents in the U.K. and across Europe.
“Europe and in particular, the U.K., are going through a political and a public policy review as to whether or not temporary residents generally will be allowed to stay,” said Byrne, who is actually a basketball fan.
“They don’t know if they’re going to have to be relocated or where their future lies. This is where we need to tap into. We need to make these individuals aware that Newfoundland and Labrador could be that choice for them.”
He said the idea first came up during a brainstorming session in February, planted by a department staffer, who worked in sport broadcasting in Europe. The department then started looking for teams with expiring sponsorship contracts and finally settled on Barrow AFC with a deal that costs $170,000 over two years.
“We have a history with England, the U.K. and the Commonwealth,” said Byrne. “We have a history of seeking newcomers. We feel an affiliation and affection for Barrow.”
While soccer is a global sport, Triandafyllidou, the professor from TMU, said this may leave out a good chunk of the temporary resident audience in the U.K.
“People from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, they’re big on cricket,” she said. “I’m not sure they’re necessarily soccer fans.”
At a time when Canada is putting a brake on immigration growth and so many established temporary residents are struggling to stay, Triandafyllidou said it would make more sense for Newfoundland and Labrador to target those migrants already in Canada rather than looking abroad.
Bradish, the sports marketing expert, said capturing eyeballs is just a piece of the sponsorship and whether it delivers depends on the “activation” strategy that follows.
“How will they message immigrants in that community?” asked Bradish. “How are they going to speak to people that might be interested in immigrating to Newfoundland?
“How are they then going to make the partnership come alive in the marketplace? What does your advertising look like? What do your promotions look like? What’s your PR plan look like?”
The province said its immigration officials will be in the U.K. during the soccer season carrying out “newcomer attraction activities.” Employers interested in getting involved are welcome to join.
This article was first reported by The Star
