How does a semi-pro soccer club in Hamtramck land home matches with a first-tier Mexican team and with Germany's legendary second-division punk rock team?

The answer for Detroit City FC is a combination of reasons: The foreign teams are seeking to bolster their brands among U.S. fans by playing here, and the German team, the famed FC St. Pauli from Hamburg, is a kindred spirit when it comes to its fans' progressive social activism.

Upper tier clubs from North America and Europe have taken note of Detroit City's grassroots success in building a powerhouse club with a large, loyal following — it averages more than 5,000 fans per match at Keyworth Stadium, and has topped 7,000 at times. The team's attendance rivals that of clubs in upper-tier U.S. pro leagues, and its reputation has grown exponentially.

This year's DCFC schedule includes a July 10 match against Club Necaxa of Liga MX, the top Mexican league and the most-watched soccer league in the U.S. thanks to the country's large Latino population, and FC St. Pauli on May 19. That game will be carried on Fox Sports Detroit, the first time a DCFC match has aired live on TV.

Foreign teams playing exhibition matches in the United States and other growing soccer markets such as China is an increasingly common business strategy.

"They're looking to raise their profile in the United States," said Detroit City FC co-founder and CEO Mann. Global powerhouse teams such as Manchester United and Real Madrid are doing the same by playing in North America — including possibly again at Michigan Stadium this summer — in the elite International Champions Cup exhibition tournament.

Landing a match with FC St. Pauli is especially thrilling for Detroit City because the clubs share similar political and culture values.

"Thankfully, I think we've built up some credibility on that side of the Atlantic," Mann said. "We were able to talk them into coming over here."

The FC St. Pauli match was organized through Match IQ GmbH, a Hamburg soccer consultancy that handles such services for Germany's top clubs.

The match with Club Necaxa originated with talks with a sports player agent about a year ago, Mann said.

Club Necaxa intended to play a series of U.S. matches, but ended up scheduling only Detroit, Mann said, while FC St. Pauli has a second match and other goodwill and business plans scheduled while visiting the U.S. Three days after the match in Hamtramck, FC St. Pauli will travel west to play the Portland Timbers 2, the second-tier United Soccer League club owned by Major League Soccer's Portland Timbers.

"Given the popularity of European clubs in the U.S., which frankly dwarfs the popularity of our domestic leagues, a cottage industry has developed with these summer tours," Mann said. "For us it is a matter of developing a reputation across the Atlantic and being able to convince clubs to come play us if we can cover their costs. They all have slightly different motivations for why they are willing to come play us though."

One of DCFC's several corporate sponsors, Detroit-based Strategic Staffing Solutions, is underwriting some of the FC St. Pauli match as the game's presenting sponsor.

Detroit City has non-disclosure agreements with both teams that mean the financial terms of the Club Necaxa and FC St. Pauli cannot be made public, Mann said.

"We're addressing certain aspects of their travel and their time here," he said. Mann did allow one detail: Detroit FC doesn't split its match ticket sales with visiting international clubs, but it does give up a portion to Chicago-based U.S. Soccer because it's the sanctioning body that provides the referees for such games.

Detroit City expects to have a $1.5 million operating budget for the entire 2018 season. The club, which owners say is profitable, intends to move to a higher, professional tier of U.S. soccer next season. Its current league, the National Premier Soccer League, is the fourth tier of the U.S. soccer organizational pyramid and is one level below professional soccer with paid players. DCFC has been in the NPSL since debuting in 2012.

The club's international opponents this season boast impressive profiles.

Club Necaxa, founded in 1923, last season averaged 18,505 fans at Estadio Victoria, which seats 23,851. The team plays in Aguascalientes, a city of nearly 1 million people founded in 1575 in what is now the central Mexican state of the same name. Club Necaxa is in the 18-team Liga MX, Mexico's top flight soccer league and the most-watched fútbol league in the U.S. — significantly more than Major League Soccer and the English Premier League TV audiences — with an average of 1.1 million viewers per match on Univision. Necaxa has won Mexico's top-tier championship three times.

FC St Pauli, which dates to 1910, plays in the 18-team German second division, known as 2. Bundesliga. It averaged 29,359 fans per match at 29,546-seat Millerntor-Stadion in Hamburg, a city of 1.8 million people in north central Germany. The club has won 10 titles across several German second and third-tier leagues over its history.

Pitting itself against upper-tier clubs from North America and elsewhere helps not only improve DCFC's soccer on the field, but adds to the team's reputation in the soccer world.

"I think the quality of international friendlies is reflective of the success, acumen and relevancy of Detroit City FC," said U.S. soccer hall-of-famer and TV analyst Alexi Lalas, a Birmingham native who attended Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills. "It is also a response to the current value and future potential of metro Detroit as a soccer community. Detroit is obviously becoming increasingly more attractive to soccer brands and businesses for what it is, and what it can be."

Detroit City in past seasons has hosted Glentoran FC from Northern Ireland's top division, and England's FC United of Manchester, a sixth-tier semi-pro club.

"We're the only team I know of that builds in these international matches into our season ticket packages, and not an add-on," Mann said. "It's a marketing tool for us but also part of our commitment to being the highest value sporting event in town. And single-game ticket sales for St. Pauli are the fastest we've ever seen for a non-playoff match and should sell out well in advance of the match with over 1,000 St. Pauli fans anticipated to come from across North America for the match."

Both DCFC and FC St. Pauli have dedicated fanbases who are part of club decision-making, with the German club known for its left-leaning politics and causes (and for sporting the Jolly Roger flag). Both clubs rely on merchandise sales as a revenue stream, too, and boast intense match-day atmospheres.

"We're delighted to be guests of the supporter-built soccer environment of Detroit City FC, which fits very well with the member-driven culture of FC St. Pauli. This is a real friendly and we're very excited about it. I hope we can recreate a tiny part of FC St. Pauli's magnificent support in the States," said FC St. Pauli team President Oke Göttlich, via email.

He called the U.S. trip and matches "very special" and a chance to discuss soccer issues.

"It gives us an opportunity to expand on past discussions between two soccer cultures and exchange lots of ideas," he said. "Topics such as fair competition in professional soccer leagues based on salary caps and the draft system and the alignment of U.S. soccer with global transfer windows are just some of the issues we'll touch on in organized debates about the particularities of U.S. soccer and the European system.

He also noted that FC St. Pauli has a large U.S. fanbase.

"Anyone familiar with the commitment of our North American fans will know that meetings with our supporters will be a key aspect of this trip," Göttlich said. "We're also planning to organize club concerts with associated musicians in Detroit and Portland during the tour. And we're looking forward to talking to lots of club representatives and the very active fan bases in Detroit and Portland."

Mann expects international matches to remain a part of DCFC's future.

"Given the popularity of European clubs in the U.S., which frankly dwarfs the popularity of our domestic leagues, a cottage industry has developed with these summer tours," Mann said. "For us it is a matter of developing a reputation across the Atlantic and being able to convince clubs to come play us if we can cover their costs. They all have slightly different motivations for why they are willing to come play us though."

DCFC is still taking calls from domestic and international teams seeking a date for a friendly match, Mann said, but the team is careful in who it chooses to play. The objective is to schedule non-league matches with teams that share similar values to Detroit City, and fulfill goals such as providing local Latino fans with a chance to see a big league Mexican team in the case of Club Necaxa.

"I'll take the calls, but we're deliberate in who we're gonna play," Mann said. "It's got to be clubs we identify with."

Once DCFC turns pro, the club may possibly play international matches overseas or in Mexico rather than just hosting them, Mann said. Until then, the schedule in the current fourth-tier format is too tight to allow overseas play.

DCFC starts its season on April 14 with an exhibition match against Western Michigan University at home. League play begins May 13 against AFC Ann Arbor on the road, and the club's first NPSL home match is May 25 against FC Columbus.