High Hopes

In 2009, when Red Bull purchased a football team in the German fifth division, they immediately had high hopes in the franchise. If I can say anything about my knowledge, it is that they seem to follow the motto "go big or go home." And they tend to go big. The initial goal was to take the club from the fifth division to the first division (Bundesliga) in 10 years. Well, in 2015, they are currently in the second division - but still with those high hopes.

Yet it has not been all sunshine and rainbows. Many intricate issues have come about, from ownership and legal measures (which I will not focus on so much) to a huge anti-Red Bull movement from opposing fans. Even within the club, there is an enormous amount of pressure to win - always.

In German football, it has been the tradition that clubs are owned by a large majority of stock holders and fans. Yet, Red Bull greatly defied that tradition and has done much navigating to make sure they are adhering to all the rules imposed by the German Football Association. This has caused quite a stir among fans. No opposing fans want to see a company come in and immediately spend millions of euros to try to elevate a single club. In the US, that is often how professional sports operate - big teams have big money and they win. But in Germany, it is not so much the norm. The complete Red Bull overhaul has been met with some strong resistance.

In speaking with a staff member, he told me about how jealous other clubs were of RB Leipzig. RB Leipzig officially stands for RasenBall Sport Leipzig because of certain rules, yet very few people are unaware of what the RB truly represents. The main issue is money. Red Bull has continuously poured money into the club. Just this past winter, RB Leipzig spent the second most amount of money to sign new players in all of German professional football. Other smaller clubs will simply not be able to compete with an organization that operates like that, and other fans and clubs are, from my view, angered mixed with jealous.

The sticker above says "100% Werbung - 0% Fußball" - which translates to "100% Advertising - 0 % football." I found it as I was walking to the match near Red Bull Arena. It speaks a lot, I think, about how others feel about the club. In American professional sports, money is king. The richest teams win. And then, because of that, people love to hate the rich teams. I am sure people all across the US "hate" the Yankees, the Patriots, the LA Lakers, etc. But I think the hatred toward RB Leipzig is different. It is certainly a bit about jealousy - RB Leipzig is spending money and buying players and winning matches. But also, I think it is challenging the entire German football system. 

German football is not about huge companies spending money and challenging anyone to try to stop them. Most clubs stand no chance with the resources that Red Bull has, and they understand that. It is not a rivalry hatred that I see. It is a "you-don't-belong" hatred. Red Bull has changed the entire idea of what a successful football club could look like in Germany. And just like all big change, there will always be resistance. Yet, with their high hopes (and deep pockets), I think we will be seeing RB Leipzig celebrate league titles a lot sooner than most people hope.