DCFC's league, the National Premier Soccer League, is a fourth-tier league — and one of the two top amateur leagues — within the seven-tier Chicago-based United States Soccer Federation's organizational pyramid. The USSA is American soccer's governing body.

Unlike foreign leagues, it takes money rather than wins on the soccer field to move up to a larger soccer league in the United States.

USL teams typically have a $1 million annual operating budget, said Mann, whose full-time job is as a Detroit-based lobbyist with Lansing-based. NASL clubs cost $2 million to $3 million to operate.

This season, Detroit City will have a $400,000-plus budget, or more than double last season, he said. Ownership has said the team is profitable.

The new money comes from new corporate sponsors, such as theandeach signing one-year deals to put their logos on the club's jerseys in 2015.

Troy-basedalso signed on this season as the club's official bank, and is underwriting its community outreach efforts.

The team sold its entire allotment of $50 season tickets ($65 with a 2015 season scarf) for its seven-game home schedule at Cass Tech High School. The club also plays a number of friendly, or non-league, games during the season.

The team also makes money from selling clothing, caps, scarves, stickers and other goods from its online store at DetCityFCstore.com . It also raised prices for merchandise and tickets this season.

The new cash is being spent to improve the soccer club, ownership said.

"It allows us to scale up, to boost our staffing and capabilities," Mann said.

The team's lone year-round full-time staffer is general manager Donovan Powell, hired in 2013 to run the business side of the club. The influx of money has allowed the team to hire an in-season social media coordinator, Mann said.

The club uses a dozen paid staff members for games.