McBurnie punished a costly error by Middlesbrough goalkeeper Solomon Brynn, who came off his line to claim Yu Hirakawa's cross and failed to reach it, leaving the Scottish striker to head into an empty net. The goal earned Hull a return to the top flight that felt improbable for much of a season in which they had the fourth-worst defensive record in the Championship and finished below the automatic places.
Manager Sergej Jakirovic, speaking with his winners' medal around his neck, was measured in his assessment of what his side had achieved.
"I'm not sure we are aware of everything we have achieved today. It is unbelievable and I am proud of everyone at the club."
He paid tribute to McBurnie, who joined the club three days before the season began.
"We signed Oli three days before the season started, but I spoke with him first in June. We got lucky because Chris Wilder at Sheffield United is his father in football. I saw in the play-off he can handle pressure easily — he is ready for these sorts of games."
Captain Lewie Coyle, a Hull native who has spent six years at the club, delivered an emotional speech after the final whistle. His father Chris, a well-known figure in the city, died suddenly in 2022.
"I thought about it all night last night," Coyle said. "I had a few interactions with my old man through the week, which I never really have. I actually went to a funeral on Wednesday. Something happened that day, and I clung onto it. I said, 'Is that a way of my old man speaking to me?' I thought about that a lot this week and I said it to the lads in the huddle before the game."
He told his team-mates to think about their reasons for playing, then described the mood in the dressing room after the result.
"I actually don't have a lot of self-belief in a lot of aspects of my life, but I had a weird feeling today that there was nothing stopping us. There are some fantastic stories amongst this group of men, some heartbreaking stories. That's what this team has been built on this year — not football, but a group of men willing to go that extra yard. We've got a special group."
Hull become only the second team in Premier League history to earn promotion as a sixth-placed Championship side, after Blackpool in 2010. Deloitte estimate the club will generate at least £205 million over the next three seasons from their Premier League status.