Red Bull is planning to make further investments in football next year which could lead to it increasing the size of its stake in Leeds United.
City AM has learned that the energy drinks giant is cutting some of the funding allocated to other sports with a view to increasing the focus on football.
Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp starts work as Red Bull’s Head of Soccer in January and the Austrian company is preparing to double down on its investment in the sport.
French second division club Paris FC became the seventh club in the Red Bull stable in a joint venture with Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy owners, the Arnault family, last month.
The group also owns Red Bull Leipzig, RB Salzburg, RB Bragantino, RB Brasil and the New York Red Bulls.
Red Bull is a minority owner at Leeds United in partnership with 49ers Enterprises. The deal agreed earlier this year gives it scope to increase its stake and involvement in the running of Leeds.
The Red Bull logo is on the front of Leeds United men’s and women’s first-team kits, and it also has a significant branding presence at Elland Road.
Red Bull’s investment has created the dominant team in Formula 1 over the last 15 years, with eight world drivers’ championships and six constructors’ titles.
It has also funded investment in cycling, skiing and motocross, commitments which could come under pressure if it reallocates resources to Leeds ot other clubs.
Governance worries dent UK Athletics funding
UK Athletics has paid the price for perceived governance issues, with UK Sport cutting its funding for the next Olympic cycle by eight per cent this week despite a tally of 10 medals at Paris 2024, Team GB’s best haul in track and field for 40 years.
The government’s funding of athletics has dropped by £1.73m to £20.45m for 2025 to 2029, a setback exacerbated by the fact that all of the other 45 Olympic and Paralympic sports funded by UK Sport have seen their budgets increased, with the exception of canoeing.
UKA has been struggling with financial problems for some time and posted record losses of £3.7m last year, but its governance appears to have been a bigger concern for UK Sport.
UKA has not had a performance director since Stephen Maguire was suddenly sacked 14 months ago, while less significantly they have also been without president since Denise Lewis stood down after just two months in the role last February following a row over a potential conflict of interests given her position as a long-standing pundit for the BBC.
UKA chief executive Jack Buckner, who is a former European Championship gold medalist over 5,000m, has successfully adopted a very hands-on role, but there is a belief in government that he would benefit from greater support and oversight.
A tale of two sports
Politicians’ contrasting attitudes to the country’s two biggest winter sports, football and rugby union, have been clearly illustrated by events in Westminster and Whitehall this week.
A report published today by the National Audit Office reveals that the government is resigned to writing off almost £30m in public money, much of it loaned to Premiership rugby clubs during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The vast majority of the £29m in borrowing which will not be recovered was lent to Wasps, Worcester and London Irish, who between them received 90 per cent of the £46.1m the government issued to companies which are now insolvent.
Beyond the defaulted debt the report – “DCMS’s management of its COVID-19 loan book” – also emphasises the extent of club rugby’s reliance on taxpayers’ money since the pandemic, without which there would have been far more insolvencies.
Of £474m lent by DCMS to arts and sports organisations between 2020 and 2022, a staggering £123.8m went to the 13 Premiership rugby clubs, more than one-third of all the money received by sport and over one-quarter of the value of all the Covid loans.
In contrast, professional football in England did not receive a penny from government, other than a £10m grant and £5.4m in loans awarded to non-league clubs in the National League.
With minimal fans allowed in stadiums for almost a year many EFL clubs would have gone bust without a £200m interest-free loan and £50m grant they received from the Premier League.
The government’s main interest in football at the moment appears to be making sure it is more highly regulated. The Football Governance Bill is currently at the Second Reading stage in the House of Lord’s, where it has been the subject of 390 amendments.
Rugby union is not subject to government regulation despite losing three top-flight clubs in one season, and will not suffer any consequences from failing to repay public money, other than a deterioration in relations between the Premiership and DCMS.
Bury were the first Football League club to be wound up in 27 years when they were liquidated in 2019, and only six clubs have entered administration since tougher financial regulations were introduced in 2012.
No blackout on Boxing Day
Football fans could get a glimpse of the future when Amazon Prime Video broadcasts its goals and near-live action programme, Every Game Every Goal, on Boxing Day.
As well as key moments from the five 3pm Premier League kick-offs, which include Chelsea v Fulham and Nottingham Forest v Tottenham, the games will also be shown in full live on the streaming platform.
Under English football’s unique broadcast blackout this is currently impossible on Saturdays, but since Boxing Day falls on a Thursday, the Article 48 restriction does not apply.