In hiring Jürgen Klopp as its new global head of soccer, Red Bull has pulled off the biggest off-field personnel coup in the game. The Austrian conglomerate known for its energy drinks and sports ventures succeeded in securing Klopp’s services when many others, including the United States men’s soccer team, had failed, leading CEO Oliver Mintzlaff to describe it as “the strongest signing of Red Bull’s soccer history”.
Klopp will officially begin his role in January 2025, but between now and then the former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund coach may take a glance at the network of Red Bull-operated teams and notice a franchise in Major League Soccer in need of some attention.
Mintzlaff agrees that his company’s MLS team, New York Red Bulls, is not living up to expectations. When it was put to him that the New York franchise had not benefitted the ownership group as they thought it might, Mintzlaff replied, “That’s absolutely right.”
In the interview, given to the German magazine Kicker last month, Mintzlaff was critical of the progress of MLS generally but also relayed hints of optimism. “MLS is developing, but it’s developing far too slowly and is still far from the standard we would imagine for a country like the USA,” Mintzlaff said. “Nevertheless, I remain bullish on soccer in the USA, especially with the 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup in mind. We are currently investing around $200m in a fantastic academy that will open in two years. We have high expectations and are convinced we will produce much more talent in the future.”
This is where Klopp could come in. Though his role will not involve day-to-day operations, he will be tasked with bringing an overall strategy to Red Bull soccer, working closely with those in key sporting roles at individual clubs. At New York, these would currently be head of sport Jochen Schneider and sporting director Julian De Guzman. Klopp also sees the role as being a mentor to coaches. He previously played alongside and coached New York Red Bulls head coach Sandro Schwarz at Mainz 05.
Klopp’s involvement with Red Bull has raised some eyebrows. He is revered at the three clubs he coached partly because he valued their unique local identities and connection to their wider fanbase. In this respect, Mainz 05, where he also spent the majority of his playing career, Borussia Dortmund, and Liverpool were a perfect fit for Klopp the coach, so it’s understandable that his move to Red Bull’s multi-club conglomerate has not gone down well with some supporters.
Klopp’s idea of what and who a soccer club should represent appears to clash with multi-club ownership and its global, impersonal branding, but fans of New York Red Bulls may hope some of Klopp’s values rub off on their team, which they have seen edge more towards being a Red Bull franchise than a New York/New Jersey one. Mintzlaff’s comments that the New York team, which plays in one of the world’s largest sports markets, has not produced for the group as expected only heightened fans’ sense that theirs is a feeder team rather than one that seeks success in its own right. It is for this reason that some supporters have called for Red Bull to sell the team, especially after Mintzlaff’s comments coincided with a 5-1 loss to local rival New York City FC.
Before Red Bull took over in 2006, the team had played under the name New York/New Jersey MetroStars and was among the 10 franchises to play in MLS’s inaugural season in 1996. The Red Bull rebrand removed any New Jersey element from the name, even though the team has always played its MLS games on that side of the Hudson River, and added Red Bull logos across the board. The new soccer-specific stadium in Harrison, New Jersey was named the Red Bull Arena.
In terms of success, the Red Bulls of MLS have since finished top of the Eastern Conference five times and topped the overall standings to claim the Supporters’ Shield on three occasions. Red Bull Arena is considered one of the best soccer-specific stadiums in the country, though it may be more accurate to call it the most European, which is no surprise given the say Red Bull had in the eventual design of the stadium already planned for the area.
Despite these positives, the team has not seen success since its last Supporters’ Shield win in 2018. Most disappointingly, it has not made it past round one of the playoffs in that time. In MLS, the champion is considered to be the winner of the MLS Cup playoffs, rather than the overall league winner as would be the case at Red Bull’s other clubs. New York Red Bulls have never won the MLS Cup, and it is this title fans crave. This season, the Red Bulls made the playoffs for the 15th consecutive year, but there is little optimism among supporters that the campaign will end with them lifting MLS Cup.
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In contrast, since Red Bull took over the MetroStars the company’s team back home, Red Bull Salzburg, has won the Austrian Bundesliga title in 14 of 18 seasons, while its German side, RB Leipzig, has risen from the fifth tier of German football to become Champions League regulars and win the DFB Pokal (German Cup) in 2022 and 2023.
In comparison, New York Red Bulls are treading water (to make things more frustrating New York City FC, who only started play in 2015, won MLS Cup in 2021). Many might even agree with Mintzlaff’s comments that MLS is developing too slowly or that the team is hampered by the league’s roster restrictions, but at the same time, others do more within those parameters than the Red Bulls.
Klopp may bring optimism to some supporters who had all but given up on the team winning an MLS Cup under Red Bull. A league that boasts, in Lionel Messi, one of the best to ever play the game, now, in a more roundabout way, boasts one of the best to ever coach the sport. Given the excitement that currently surrounds the game in the US, Klopp may be keen to have some involvement in the States – after all, his job title uses the word “soccer” rather than “football”. New York Red Bulls offers a way in, and fans will certainly be keen for their team to get his attention.