Red Bull’s Leeds masterplan laid bare amid latest on record-breaking £40m off-pitch deal.
Red Bull’s long-term business plan for Leeds United is becoming increasingly clear amid the latest news behind the scenes in West Yorkshire.
Leeds are the latest venture into football for Austrian energy drinks brand, who are known for their unique and sometimes controversial marketing strategy.
The company now has outposts in Austria, Brazil, the US and Germany, with all of the clubs in those markets taking on the ‘Red Bull’ or ‘RB’ prefix.
Following their significant minority investment in Leeds earlier this summer, supporters were told that the club’s name would remain unchanged.
However, that does not mean that Red Bull will be inconspicuous at Elland Road – they still very much plan on making their presence known.
And the latest developments this week illustrate exactly that.
Leaked images: Red Bull’s front-of-shirt deal with Leeds
Chairman Paraag Marathe announced in May that Red Bull would take over Leeds‘ front-of-shirt rights from Boxt as of 2024-25.
As relayed by the Daily Mail, leaked images have surfaced showing Leeds’ home shirt for the coming campaign, with Red Bull’s branding featured heavily.
Some Leeds fans have taken exception to the use of the colour red in the design due to its association with arch-rivals Man United.
But given that the colour is integral to the company’s brand identity, it was never likely that they would make an exception for Leeds.
Looking at other Red Bull-owned clubs in Leipzig, Bragantino and Salzburg, the red colour scheme has been slowly introduced over time.
Another familiar brushstroke seen at Leeds, as with other clubs in the Red Bull empire, is integrating football with other sports.
Leeds already have a relationship with American football through the San Francisco 49ers, the NFL outfit whose investment arm bought the club from Andrea Radrizzani in June last year.
Now, it appears as though Red Bull are tyring to forge a relationship between Leeds and Formula One, just as Daniel Levy has done at Tottenham through a commercial link-up.
Ethan Ampadu, Dan James, Glen Kamara and Georginio Rutter recently posed for photos with Red Bull Racing superstar Max Verstappen, while the club has also created social media content with the F1 team.
