Leeds United: Red Bull to become Leeds’ primary sponsor
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00:00 Hello and welcome back to the Marching On Together Leeds United podcast with myself, Daniel
00:05 from Local TV Leeds and Lee from the Yorkshire Evening Post. Hello. How are things? Things well,
00:13 quite quiet I guess to be honest, obviously given the season's over. But for Leeds United,
00:19 there has been some news of late and it concerns a sponsorship. So if we get straight into that,
00:25 and it is Red Bull, you know, a massive energy drink, a global drink, and they've bought into
00:31 Leeds United and are set to become the front of shirt sponsor for the club. So that's an
00:36 interesting one, isn't it? Because of course, a club of Leeds' stature, you know, and then a
00:42 company of Red Bull's stature going together, that could generate Leeds a good bit of revenue income
00:47 with of course, the advertising revenue, etc, sponsorship, all of that. There are of course,
00:53 some fears which we'll get into as well surrounding Red Bull and what they've done with other clubs.
00:57 But for now, in terms of financial boost, it must be a good thing, mustn't it?
01:02 Yeah, for now, it definitely is. Obviously, we'll come on to that, you know, in terms of what might
01:05 happen in the future, what fans fear, etc, etc. But I mean, we've sort of already been told and
01:09 per agmarate, the chairman's already come out and basically said, you know, it'll always remain
01:12 Leeds United and whatever and that, you know, the brand and everything will be protected. And
01:16 that's, you know, music to fans ears. That's what they want to hear. And I mean, this club,
01:20 obviously, with the support they've got, and how passionate they are, if Red Bull or anybody did
01:24 try to change anything, then I think they'd have a very, very severe fight on their hands. Let's
01:28 just say that has been pretty evident so far in statements released from the supporters trust and
01:32 things like that. But at the moment, anyway, at face value, it has to be seen as a positive.
01:37 I was really grateful to be able to speak to football finance expert Kieran Maguire about this
01:42 on the day the news broke, because it's quite a complicated thing and needed someone to break it
01:46 down. But the only thing is, we haven't really got any figures, because we don't know sort of
01:50 about what percentage they've bought into. But basically, what we do know is that it's a minority
01:55 stake. So obviously, you know, it's like, you know, a fairly low stake. It's a multi-year
01:59 agreement. So it's not just like a quick thing. And then obviously, Red Bull will be on,
02:04 whatever shape or form, will be on the front of the shirt next season. So that the main headline
02:09 acts of it really described as a significant deal. So yeah, it is big news. And obviously,
02:14 it's the first time Red Bull have had a foray into English football. Obviously, you know,
02:18 they're involved in not just football, lots of other sports as well, as you know.
02:21 So it is a big deal. And the crucial thing with Leeds really is that we don't obviously know how
02:26 much it will be. But obviously, there will be investment coming in via this and cash and funds.
02:31 And that obviously helps. And it's particularly helpful at the moment, when Leeds are dealing
02:35 with profit and sustainability rules and the battle against that. And this is basically what
02:39 Kieran Maguire was explaining to us, was that essentially, it gives them sort of like a little
02:43 bit of like wriggle room, if you like, in terms of like, you know, the PSR rules. I mean, basically,
02:48 without going into it too much, you know, clubs obviously can only lose a certain amount of money
02:53 each year under PSR rules. But if you've got investors coming in, you can sort of like top up
02:57 like how much you can lose, so to speak. So it's sort of like, it's a sort of almost like a bit of
03:01 a way around it. And it kind of gives them a little bit of time. And the way he kind of put it was
03:06 that if like a big bid did, if a bid came in for like a star player as such, you know, without the
03:11 investment, like Leeds might have to sell straight away. Whereas this gives them a bit of time,
03:15 potentially, because there's funds coming in, it negates the PSR rules to a degree. So it has to
03:21 be seen as a positive from that aspect. Obviously, yes, there are the fears and the worries about
03:25 what might happen longer term and that people think, you know, this might be Red Bull with the
03:28 foot in the door and then obviously to increase and increase and increase. But what I would say
03:32 is that since the 49ers have come in and Parag and everybody, it's been very, very professionally
03:36 run. It's, you know, they seem very, very aware, Parag, especially of the heritage of the club,
03:40 the name of the club, you know, the stature of the club. I don't think they like dealing with
03:43 it flippantly or anything like that. So I would be cautiously optimistic that it will remain
03:48 a good sort of partnership. And it is a big deal. And the other thing you've got to say is that,
03:53 you know, football is completely obviously dominated by money and resources and cash and
03:57 finances, as you know. And realistically, if you're going to get back to the top and stuff
04:01 and sort of stay there, then obviously, you know, you probably need investments such as this. You
04:05 know, that's the way it is. I mean, you know, you've seen yourself as a big Newcastle fan,
04:08 you know what it's like and stuff with money coming into clubs and whatever from whatever
04:12 source. So, you know, I think it has to be welcomed, really. And the other point that was
04:16 put to me by Kieran was that basically Red Bull would not be getting involved if they thought
04:20 this was a club that's just going to be hanging around in the Championship. You know, they've
04:24 done this because they think and they almost probably know, like, well, not know, you can
04:27 never be certain, but they've done it basically on the premise that this club is heading back to
04:31 the Premier League and that they can then, you know, sort of probably put more money in then.
04:34 So I think it's got to be seen as a positive. I totally understand the sort of worries about it
04:39 and stuff. I get that. But, you know, as I say, cautiously optimistic with that. And it should
04:43 put Leeds in a good place moving forward, starting from this summer. But even so, although Kieran
04:48 Maguire told us it rules out, you know, the sort of scale of a potential fire sale, if you like,
04:53 this doesn't suddenly mean that, like, all the stars are going to stay and that it's just,
04:57 you know, everything's hunky-dory. There's still got to balance the books. We've still got PSR
05:01 rules to look after. So there will still be big exits, as Parag basically said himself. So,
05:05 but what I would say is it definitely seems like, you know, something that will help them this
05:08 summer. Red Bull are winners. There's no doubt about that. Just look at Formula One, for example,
05:13 and obviously RB Leipzig in Germany, you know, they've done some good things. Although you could
05:19 argue then again, you look at RB Leipzig and you think, well, because of the name, for example,
05:24 that's what Leeds fans are fearing. But you'd like to think that because of Leeds United's history
05:29 and its stature, that wouldn't happen to this club. And of course, you've got to think as well,
05:34 considering some of the ownership issues Leeds have had in recent years, this is hardly scratching
05:38 the surface really, is it? Exactly, yeah, 100%. I mean, that's the thing. I mean, straight away
05:43 when the news broke, two things people think automatically. I think, number one, that's
05:47 revenue and it's cash coming in. Number two, here we go, we're going to be RB Leeds or Red Bull
05:51 Leeds, you know, or something like that. And that's natural for people to think that. But,
05:55 you know, I mean, I can't say 100%, can I? Nobody can really. But I mean, from what we're hearing
06:00 and the sounds that people are making, that doesn't seem like any sort of intention whatsoever.
06:04 And like I say, to be quite frank, all hell will break loose if that was even proposed. You know,
06:09 I've seen things like when things get threatened to this club, like the badge and things like that,
06:14 it can very, very quickly turn. The fan power at Leeds United is absolutely enormous and that
06:18 should probably see them through and into safe enough hands, I think. So, yeah, I mean,
06:22 they are winners and like I say, it's got to be seen as a positive in terms of helping them through
06:26 what will still be a very, very tricky summer. We'll watch this space, really.
06:30 I was going to say, I remember that badge. That was dreadful, to be honest. That was
06:34 not a good look. So, yeah, I think you're right, Leo. I think it's a move that's done, let's be
06:43 honest, mostly a financial gain given the PSR world that we live in, in football currently.