NEW YORK RED BULLS: ANALYZING THE MARKETING STRATEGY BEHIND RED BULL GMBH’S REBRAND OF THE NEW YORK METROSTARS AND ITS IMPACT ON FUTURE CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS IN MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

Abstract

Prior to the 2006 Major League Soccer season, the New York MetroStars were purchased by Austrian energy drink company Red Bull GmbH and rebranded as the New York Red Bulls. In an era where professional sports in the United States are already saturated with sponsorships, Red Bull’s corporate ownership of a Major League Soccer club was seen as forward-looking, both in terms of the development of Major League Soccer (MLS) as well as the direction of Red Bull’s marketing strategy. Already a company known for an innovative and unconventional marketing strategy defined by its sponsorship of extreme sports, Red Bull’s rebranding of an American soccer club was unexpected and intriguing, yet received surprisingly little media attention or academic analysis as either a sporting venture or a marketing strategy. This thesis aims to measure the impact of the rebrand of the MetroStars as the New York Red Bulls on sales of Red Bull products in 2006 in the New York area as well as assess its influence on corporate sponsorship strategies in Major League Soccer going forward.