The Premier League, in collaboration with NBC Sports, hosted its Premier League Mornings Live Fan Festival on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 of September in Kansas City, Missouri.
Bringing together thousands of football fans, the event featured live broadcasts of all 10 Premier League matches and interactive fan experiences, with each of the 20 clubs hosting a fan zone.
Lorriman, who runs the Royal Dyche in Burnley, which was crowned Best Pub for Sport at the 2023 Great British Pub Awards, was asked to represent Burnley at the two-day festival with a pop-up version of the pub.
Taking over a pub called McFaden’s, Lorriman, who is also a previous British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) Licensee of the Year (LOYA) winner, adorned the Kansas city venue with memorabilia from the Royal Dyche.
“I only had a couple of weeks’ notice and we’re probably the smallest club in the Premier League, we’re new as well, so I was nervous. But it was really cool.
“The Americans were really blown away. I wasn’t sure if they like to drink but people were drinking beers from 6am and watching the football… Americans are crazy for the Premier League", she told The Morning Advertiser (The MA).
Pinch me moment
She added: “It was a fully functioning bar, so I went over and decorated it as the Royal Dyche.
“I took two 20-kilogramme suitcases filled with Burnley memorabilia and things from the Royal Dyche. We were trying to give the American people a slice of what we’re about.
“It felt like an episode of MTV Cribs with me welcoming people and taking them around the pub, doing interviews live on NBC to millions of Americans and explaining what makes the British pub so special.
“It was a real pinch me moment... I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Additionally, Lorriman said she tried to get as many local businesses involved as possible, taking over things like pump clips from local breweries as well as bar runners and beer mats.
The venue also hosted a pub quiz on the Sunday, which gave fans the chance to win two tickets to a Burnley game, including return flights from the US and a visit the real Royal Dyche.
Burnley’s team mascot, Bertie Bee, also made an appearance at the pop-up, which had Guinness, Coors Light, Budweiser and Somersby on the bar.
Lorriman also got a chance to embrace American culture, including the traditional barbecue-style food Kansas is known for, though she noted it differed from the UK: “I really enjoy the culture over there. Everybody’s got manners and respect.
“But I feel like what they do lack is the community bond. My pub are my second family, I see some of my customers more than I see my actual family.”
However, she found the US approach to team loyalty puzzling: “I struggled to come to terms with somebody wearing a Man United scarf with a Chelsea top and a Newcastle hat, I found that very bizarre because British people are very loyal to their team or the club, whereas in America, they just wanted to be a part of something.”
Lorriman, who said she would love to take part in the event again, added with so many challenges hitting the sector at all angles, shouting about positive experiences like this was important.
She told The MA: “There’s a lot of doom and gloom in our industry at the moment.
“Every country is intrigued about British pub culture, our communities, how it works and why it’s so special; this gave us that spotlight to talk about it on a bigger scale.
“That’s why the Government needs to listen to us, because all other countries want what we have.
Positive thing
“[This was] such a heart-warming thing, the fact we got to pretty much pick up the Royal Dyche and plant it in Kansas City. It’s absolutely mind blowing.”
The award-winning operator added a German production company is also set to visit the Burnley pub in the coming months following the trip.
On top of this, the pub has gained more than 1,000 extra followers on social media.
Since she returned from her American adventure, Lorriman, who described herself as a “huge” Burnley fan, said the trip has become something of a local legacy.
She has also received positive feedback from those who visited the pop-up, with thank you cards and token gifts being sent to her from across America.
For Lorriman, the trip was all about bringing back the stories and memories for locals: “It was really nice to come back and share it with all my regulars. They were just so pleased and liked hearing all the stories.
“It made them feel special and a part of something, that’s what British pub culture is very good at, it’s not just about going for a pint.”
