Marathe exclusive: ‘This club will not become Leeds Red Bulls – they understand that’

Red Bull’s reach across football stretches far and wide, from Germany and Austria to the U.S. and Brazil. It runs one of the world game’s biggest multi-club groups but, until today, had stopped short of entering into the English game.

That changed on Thursday morning when The Athletic revealed that Red Bull has purchased a minority stake in Leeds United, linking up with the 49ers Enterprises ownership fund which owns the Championship club. The soft-drinks conglomerate will also be Leeds’ main front-of-shirt sponsor next season, but it is the firm’s equity deal which will spark the most interest — and most contention.

Red Bull’s success in the global sports industry has been marked. Its motor racing operation is dominating Formula 1 and it has made two football clubs in continental Europe, RB Leipzig in Germany and Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, prominent both domestically and at European level.

Its methods and approach to club management, though, are also a cautionary tale — particularly in Austria, where the creation of Red Bull Salzburg involved a complete rebranding of a club founded in the 1930s but acquired by Red Bull in 2005. That club’s name, colours (purple and white to white and red) and stadium all changed, amid attempts to airbrush out the history of the original team — SV Austria Salzburg.

Following publication of The Athletic’s story, Leeds chairman Paraag Marathe answers questions about why Red Bull was investing, why 49ers Enterprises — the investment arm of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers — wanted the firm on board at Elland Road and whether this is a precursor to a bigger purchase of shares in the Yorkshire club or even of a full buy-out and rebrand.

Phil Hay: How did this deal come about, and why do the 49ers feel the need to have Red Bull on board at Leeds?

Paraag Marathe: It wasn’t that we were looking at needing capital investment. It’s not that we were looking at needing a front-of-shirt partner. We had other options as well. This came together and evolved over time. I understand the nuance, I understand the potential sensitivities, which is why the chemistry was really important to me. Six months ago, this was me doing it directly with Red Bull’s sporting CEO, Oliver Mintzlaff. It honestly started as a series of conversations, both on the phone and Zoom and in person, trying to get a feel for each other.

It wasn’t focused on front of shirt (sponsorship), it wasn’t focused on investment. It was, ‘What does something look like?’. My question was, ‘Why? Is there an interest at your end?’, and I’m sure he had similar questions of me.

What I’ll say first of all — Red Bull’s a global sporting organisation with lots of success, not just in football, but they hadn’t been in English football and there are how many clubs in the English pyramid? Of those clubs, they certainly had the resources to do a significant front-of-shirt sponsorship with any of them. Their preference was Leeds United.

They could have pursued an investment in any club in English football, and they chose Leeds United. They chose to do a minority partnership — which will continue to be a minority partnership — because they recognised the global potential of Leeds and what this club could be. They believe in our management of the squad and hopefully, specifically, my chairmanship of this club.

That’s not going to change; not today, not tomorrow. This is a minority partnership. The connection with a global sporting organisation like Red Bull is going to raise the profile and elevate the stature of Leeds. We all say this is a massive club, and it isn’t just a story. My sole focus is to make more money and pour every pound we make into (the team on) the pitch. My sole focus is making our team as competitive as possible.

It’s why I’ve said I hope we have a PSR (profitability and sustainability rules) issue every single year, because everything we do is going to be about maximising our ability to be as competitive as we can be. The partnership with Red Bull leads to more profile, to global revenue, to more money to buy players and keep players. That’s all I care about — keeping the squad as competitive as I can.

Hay: What are we actually talking about in terms of stake size? And how much is this worth to the club in terms of shirt sponsorship? What are the figures?

Marathe: On the investment side, the details I can share is that it’s a significant minority investment, but there are a handful of investors who have invested more, there are a handful of investors who’ve invested less.

It’s also important to note that everyone’s in this together. They’re all coming in with the same understanding and setup. What I mean is that we have a really good group of investors who I can lean on for advice. I’m smart enough to know what I don’t know, so when a situation arises that I haven’t seen before, I’ve got great individuals I can call. Red Bull is going to be another esteemed partner I can lean on when the time is right. They’re the same as everyone else who came in, and in line with everyone else.

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From a front-of-shirt standpoint, it’s a significant deal for us. It’s a significant partnership, a partnership they were going to do whether we were in the Premier League or not (Leeds lost in the Championship play-off final last weekend). It’s a multi-year, long-term deal commercially that already has built into it, when we get promoted, a different number. There’s not a penny of it that’s going anywhere other than back into the pitch.

What influence will Red Bull have in the running of the club, then? And will it be represented on the Leeds board?

Marathe: The influence is as I said — just like any of our other significant investors. When I talk about chemistry of the squad, there’s also the chemistry of our investor group; making sure there’s a good feel, good participation and cooperation between them and me, and among our investors. I think we’ll have that.

But there’s no influence, unless there’s something (Red Bull can contribute to). We’re going to make the best decisions for Leeds United. We’re going to make the best player decisions and commercial decisions for Leeds United. Those are going to be empirically-based decisions and if, sometimes, with one of those decisions it might make sense to lean on them for advice, we’re going to do it.

Hopefully, I’m going to make as many good decisions as possible, with the best information possible. Maybe some of them don’t work out. But I’m going to do my best to make the best decisions for the club.

Hay: Will you interlink with their other clubs? One of the big issues has been the trade of players between Salzburg and Leipzig, which hasn’t gone down well with Salzburg’s fans. Will there be interaction, or will they be kept as separate entities?

Marathe: Honestly, it’s separate entities. We haven’t really contemplated that. I don’t know specifics about interactions between Leipzig and Salzburg, as you just talked about. All I know about is Leeds and what’s best for Leeds United.

Lois Openda celebrates after scoring for RB Leipzig, who have a record of signing players from Red Bull Salzburg (Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

Like I said, if there’s an opportunity somewhere, or we identify a talent that might benefit us, we’ll go do that.

The other benefit of this is that, as minority investors in the club, they’re another set of eyes and ears — pretty darn keen and expert eyes and ears, in seeing other players in other leagues. Forget even about Red Bull players. They have extra eyeballs on a lot of players. As we evaluate and do the work for this window and future windows, we can say, ‘What do you think of this player?’. There’s things we can learn which we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to learn.

In terms of an official interplay between the clubs, there’s not one.

Hay: You’ll be aware of the criticism of Red Bull, and some of its history in football. Did that potentially dissuade you from partnering with the company? Did it come up in discussion?

Marathe: I wouldn’t say it was a concern. It’s definitely something I wanted to address. I’m not talking about whatever their positive or negative history is. I’m talking about understanding our history and understanding and respecting our legacy.

So, for example, this club is and will forever be Leeds United Football Club. It’s not going to be the Leeds Red Bulls. To be fair, they understand that. They appreciate that. They respect that. They know the legacy of this club, so it’s not something they wanted either. But for me, that was table stakes (a minimum requirement for a business arrangement). That’s not going to happen.

The only way this partnership was going to come to fruition was their recognition that, as minority investors, just as with the others, they’re there to lend advice when I need it but it’s our group’s management of this club and my leadership of this club. Let me say it again — that’s not going to change. This is a minority and minority-only partnership.

On the sensitivities, we wouldn’t have done this deal if it wasn’t significant for us. It could be the difference between saving a player from being sold or signing a player.

Hay: Do those same red lines apply to shirt colour, stadium naming rights, and so on — the things Red Bull has changed elsewhere?

Marathe: Listen, anything with Elland Road is just not on my radar whatsoever. It’s not contemplated and it’s never been a part of this discussion. I recognise, and I’ve been in sports too long not to know, that these stadiums are hallowed grounds.

Not to talk about something that happened a year ago (when a group including then outgoing Leeds’ chairman Andrea Radrizzani floated the idea of using Elland Road as security for a loan to buy Italian club Sampdoria) but that was something that was so ridiculous to me, not recognising the connection that fans have with their club and their temple.

As far as their logos go, you’ve seen it before. We’ll see how it ends up developing. Yes, they do have their (sponsorship) logos with bulls and things like that and this club has had a shirt partner in the past who had red on it (Red is a contentious colour at Leeds, owing to their long-standing rivalry with Manchester United). I understand the sensitivity of that but I want supporters to know that my focus is on keeping the legacy of this great club, doing everything we can to make us as competitive as we can be on the pitch.

Elland Road – scene of Archie Gray’s goal against Leicester in February – will not be changing name, according to Marathe (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)

Hay: Does Red Bull understand that, though — that it’s all non-negotiable from your perspective?

Marathe: Yes, definitely. I want to give them credit. It was never a battle or a debate. It warmed my heart a little bit, because they could have picked any club to pursue but they picked Leeds United, because they recognise our potential.

Hay: Your own takeover started with minority investment and proceeded towards a full buy-out. How can you reassure people who wonder whether that’s ultimately where this is going to lead — Red Bull starting at minority level but taking a majority stake?

Marathe: When we invested with Andrea, as you know, you saw we had an option to purchase control for a prescribed period of time. It was always part of the picture when we first took minority investment. That was a potential opportunity if we so wanted it.

That’s not the case in this.

This is a minority partnership where they’re very happy to be investors in the club and see the club grow under my leadership. That’s not going to change.

Hay: What do you anticipate to be the fans’ reaction to this? From a financial point of view, they’ll understand the level of sponsorship. But the identity of the investors themselves could be a problem.

Marathe: I can imagine — I don’t want to say confusion — but maybe some eyebrows raised: ‘Wait a second — what does that mean? What’s going to happen? Is our name going to change? Is it going to suddenly be turned over into giving them control?’.

None of that is true or accurate. But I can understand that those will be the questions, which is why I wanted to make sure I talked about this. I hope that after unpeeling the onion a bit, fans will see this is about bringing resources to the club that help us be more competitive on the pitch — without sacrificing the integrity and the purity of what Leeds United is about.

Hay: A last question that people would probably appreciate having answered. There are lots of parties and individuals involved in the 49ers Enterprises group. Who now has tangible control over the policies and direction of the club? Who actually has a say in where the club are going?

Marathe: The short answer is that 49ers Enterprises is the sole GP (general partner) of this whole effort. If there’s an individual tasked with being responsible and accountable, that’s me. The buck stops with me. We have a board in place, which is there as a sounding board and a resource, but ultimately, accountability and the buck stops with me.

(Top photo: MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)