Red Bull, Again

By: Dan | June 23rd, 2009

Just when it seemed that I could not possibly write another piece on news going on outside the transfer window, comes a head-in-hands piece of bad news from the eastern German city of Leipzig. Tinned beverage manufacturer Red Bull has ‘rebranded’ another club, Germany’s fifth division SSV Markranstädt, with the hopes of establishing the new club as the preeminent football power in the former East Germany. The new entity will be known as Rasen Bull Leipzig.

Surprisingly enough, there is more to object to this time around than the ham fisted plastering of the Red Bull name over every available surface. As Red Bull’s involvement has been responded to by some Markranstädt supporters with vandalism and violence, as was their previous attempt to enter German football via Leipzig, with Sachsen Leipzig, the company has decided to tar all opponents of the venture with the hooligan brush. It’s difficult to decide if this is more disingenuous or illogical.

The dissenting position is simple enough to understand. Fans object to having an established club, with its own history and identity wiped off the face of the earth to become a walking advertisement. I’m sure Red Bull and its defenders would point to the money invested in return and the potential success on offer, but that has never really been a satisfactory explanation for me. Volkswagen and Fiat have managed, for many years, to put money into Wolfsburg and Juventus, respectively, without decking the team out in silver and blue or renaming the club Fiat-Torino. One might be forgiven for concluding that Red Bull would benefit from these relationships more than the clubs ever could. Let’s say, hypothetically, that a Red Bull team actually does reach the dizzying heights of a Champions League final; Red Bull benefit from the exposure, and the association in the moldable consumer mind (sigh) with winning. The actual team in question would end up in as object of scorn, a team that sold its soul for trophies.

It isn’t incredibly difficult to see that Red Bull’s stable of clubs are too small, too financially desperate or both to resist their overtures. Markranstädt , and the previous Red Bull acquisition, the former New York/New Jersey MetroStars, make the process appear more innocuous than it actually is. In Markranstädt, the opposition is seemingly outnumbered by a sizable group eager to see top flight football return to Leipzig. In New York, changing the identity of a team that didn’t exist before 1996, and had a ludicrous name to begin with didn’t raise too many eyebrows. Red Bull’s initial foray into the world of football remains the quintessential example of how insidious this practice is.

SV Austria Salzburg was not a lower division minnow with starry eyed dreams or an American franchise in a league still making inroads into the public consciousness. They were a first division club with an established fan base and a storied history. They were purchased by Red Bull in 2005. One of Red Bull’s first acts was to declare that SV Austria Salzburg ceased to exist and that the newly christened Red Bull Salzburg was devoid of any history. Obviously, the old violet and white colors were dumped as well. When Saturday Comes published a superb report on the situation; it may have been one of the only critical, English language looks at the situation. The objections of fans to the crass and clumsy changes that took place were deemed “kindergarten stuff.” A club with nearly 80 years of history was destroyed, and the fans who objected were branded childish hooligans. A fan-founded SV Austria Salzburg was founded and began life in the Austrian fourth division.

Personally, idealism trumps practicality in this situation. I view it as a matter of setting a terrible precedent. Leeds United are still looking moribund, maybe the Hostess corporation can provide the financial muscle needed to get Leeds back to the Premier League. We’ll just have to change that football in the Yorkshire rose to a twinkie. Not worth it, right? If the practice becomes acceptable, only circumstance stands between any club and this type humiliating corporate makeover.

Just think that a couple of months ago, most of the football world were up in arms over Chelsea trying to beat Barcelona by playing anti-football. The general consensus was that stylistic morals were still relevant, that the means didn’t justify the ends when it comes to winning trophies. If we can get that angry over an on-field tactical choice, having football clubs made to serve the same purpose as t-shirt cannons should merit some serious and sustained opposition.