One of the more impressive things over the past couple of weeks—impressive in the way a delusion can gain strength through sheer repetition—has been the growth, and growth, and growth, of the Red Bull myth.
The idea that Red Bull might get involved in some capacity with the Ibrox club is being touted as one of the many reasons we should be afraid of this so-called takeover. But that’s simply not true at all.
The Red Bull fantasy is something the Ibrox fanbase has clung to for an awfully long time. They seem to believe it will bring with it an infusion of transfer money, a vast scouting network, player development miracles—the whole shiny package. In short, they believe in something that is highly unlikely to materialise.
Red Bull already has a partnership with Leeds, and it’s twofold: they’re a commercial sponsor, and a minority shareholder. The first is no different than being sponsored by any other company. Having “Red Bull” on your jersey does not automatically make your players better, nor does it give them a magical energy boost; it does not, as the slogan goes, “give you wings.”
Could Red Bull bring some sports science know-how to Ibrox? Possibly. But I doubt it would be any more advanced than the stuff I remain convinced was happening under Gerrard—and to a lesser extent, under Michael Beale.
There’s a long article on this site about the caffeine experiment, and how caffeine moved from cycling to football, bringing with it a rash of consequences. That article, which you can read at this link, explains how caffeine is used in sports science, and how Red Bull helped pioneer some of that.
But here’s the point: there’s nothing new under the sun.
Any club that wants to use that kind of knowledge can do so. Sports science is not some secret society with a handshake and a decoder ring. Red Bull aren’t going to roll into Govan with innovations the rest of football has never seen. This is a small, closed circle of an industry, and by and large, everyone knows everyone else’s business. There are plenty of organisations doing what Red Bull does.
If Red Bull had something truly innovative—something properly next-level—they wouldn’t be handing it out willy-nilly to every club they have a branding deal with. That sort of proprietary knowledge would be kept in-house, used to benefit the clubs they own, not the ones they slap their name on.
That’s the whole point of proprietary advantage: you keep it, you use it for your own benefit, and you certainly don’t give it away to just anyone. That this hasn’t dawned on some people is genuinely baffling. What they’ve offered Leeds is guidance and advice, not Colonel Sanders’ secret recipe.
Also, Red Bull are minority shareholders at Leeds. If you were to draw a diagram of who benefits most from Red Bull’s scouting or transfer intel, it would have the Red Bull-owned clubs at the top. Leeds would be below them. And below them—somewhere near the bottom—would be the club from Ibrox.
Because any player good enough for Leeds in the Premier League is also good enough for Red Bull’s top-tier clubs. And if a true gem was unearthed, do we really believe Red Bull would tip off a Premier League partner before taking advantage themselves?
Why would they hand that information to a commercial partner even further down the line, whose only link to them is a logo on a shirt?
There’s also talk of a Red Bull tie-in being the most expensive commercial deal in Scottish football history. But again, that idea needs to be weighed on its own merit. You can understand why Red Bull would want to partner with Leeds and 49ers Enterprises. But these are not charities. It’s astonishing that this even needs pointing out.
Commercial sponsorships work both ways. There has to be a benefit to Red Bull, not just to the Ibrox club. And while the upside for the Ibrox side is obvious, what exactly do Red Bull get that they’re not already getting through their owned clubs and Leeds? Whatever they do will be done with an eye on the bottom line.
Talk of Red Bull—or the investors—buying out current sponsorship deals just to get involved also sounds completely mental to me. I don’t see the business logic in it. It smells like a media invention—an excuse to ignore the thorny issue of the sponsorship contracts they already have and how long those still run.
Of all the wild claims around this deal, the Red Bull magic bullet theory is one of the most absurd. Yet we keep being told that Celtic fans should be afraid. But afraid of what, exactly? We’ve got our own commercial contracts. We’ve just signed a massive extension with Adidas. We’re not struggling on that front.
There’s a lot of imaginative speculation flying around, but actual hard facts are harder to come by. There hasn’t even been the barest confirmation that Red Bull are interested in a commercial partnership with the Ibrox club. This is all people taking one and one and coming up with fifteen. But, as with everything else in this entire circus, it has helped sell season tickets.
And maybe that was the only real objective all along.
I could easily see a scenario where Red Bull become some form of sponsor for them. What I also see off the back of that would be us ending up with a sponsorship with Red Bulls rival Monster. We could essentially guarantee that the team with there logo will be the successful one & it would be a no brainer for them to sign the deal. It’s not something we need to do but would be such an easy win for Celtic & Monster if they did.
Very apt if Monster came to Celtic Jay as we have a MONSTEROUS history in comparison to Sevco…
Namely 120 trophies to Sevco’s 3 !!!
Glad you got the spelling right Clach, for the The Tribute Act is the only truly ‘Monstrous’ Klub in Glasgow.
The only bull in this is the one ending in excrement.
The only can involved is the one being now kicked even further down the road. According to a post on their forum, about an interview Dave King is doing, it seems the new date for the takeover is mid June.
If that is the case then they have no chance of being ready for the CL Qualifiers.
White Noise, Blue Moon & Red Bull SHIT !
cath excellent!
Excellent!
Brought me back to the old Tennents deals, where they had to sponsor BOTH clubs in Glasgow because one half would otherwise automatically boycott you.
I wonder where the Vodka drinkers in the worldwide Irish diaspora will land for their mixers if this takes off- I’m sure Red Bull have given that plenty of thought mind.
Nah. Next sponsor will be tampax, I believe their products have wings too
Apt Mr Magoo seeing as they’re goin thru such a bad period !!!
Could Pampers wanna a slice of the action given that Sevco are pish at the front and shit at the back !
Most appropriate analysis so far Clach.
No, their intended target has flaps but they can’t fly.
Ooh err Missus.
It’s all Bull tbh. Think about the state of rangers right now and then add the suggestion of investors picking up a majority shareholding and paying off some immediate debts and a July court visit. For a business who have never turned a penny profit.
Think about the state of ‘Rangers’ right now is gruesome…
12 years and 11 months in a coffin (come a week today) tells me that ‘Rangers’ are long dead and well into natural decomposition and that they’re as dead as the dinasours !
Clach – Reminds me of the old joke:
What’s Mozart doing these days? ….Decomposing…
Others might play his music but Mozart, God rest his soul, is still dead.
James, living in South Yorks and working in Leeds I have lots of friends who are LUFC fans. I have asked them about the 49ers, Red Bull and this data driven player model.
Mixed reaction about the 49ers. Seem to have taken more out than what they have put in.
Red Bull is only a sponsor. Nothing more.
Data driven player model. Never heard of it.
Last summer they bought Bogle from Sheff Utd. Why because Leeds wanted to flex their muscle. Not data driven.
Since Sheff Utd bought Hamer, Leeds have tried to buy him in every window, why, he is a good player. If you were to look at his yellow card count, you would not be touched. He has just been voted Championship POTY. Sheff will put £10m more on their valuation and Leeds will back off cause they do not have the money. So player model only works at the cheaper end of the market.
Also asked my friends about the new stand which has been proposed. The ground will not be closed and there will not be a reduction in their capacity during its construction. Really! Asked them where the money was coming from. They think it will be carried by the club?
Where would it reach? How far, paisley, govan, lanarshire, ayrshire, bit of belfast n a smattering of espanola? Hardly a return for the money
James I’m sure you are on it already but if you haven’t yet listended to talksport with Dave King on it’ll give you a good chuckle. Just so happens to address all the unanswered questions. He has seen the funds they have available & he is pandering & nothing more, he isn’t even hiding it….smh
I don’t know what’s real with this, it seems there’s negotiations and nothing concrete. If it happens then it probably saves them from oblivion, for a while, if it doesn’t then they’re circling the drain again. It probably will happen but I’m sure they’ll provide lots of comedy either way. Red Bull? Who cares? They won’t pay over the odds to sponsor the tribute act, why would they?