Inside Red Bull’s sports empire: Dominating F1, snapping up football clubs across the globe – and even boasting the world’s highest freefall… so what has Jurgen Klopp got himself in for?

A weary football manager joining Red Bull after claiming he was ‘running out of energy’ – it’s all a bit on the nose isn’t it?

It’s true, few matchmakers would have paired the capitalist giant on a mission to sweep up football in its wave with the sentimental manager who likes nothing more than taking traditional clubs from left wing cities back to the big time. 

But peel back the fanfare and the move makes sense for both parties. The Austrian beverage giant was looking for a new face to lead its multi-sport charge and Jurgen Klopp was after a set of jump leads to kickstart his post-Liverpool life.

High-octane. Fiercely ambitious. Instantly recognisable. The same traits that have launched Klopp to the footballing summit are at the centre of the Red Bull identity.

As ‘Global Head of Soccer’, the German will not be directly responsible for the full head-spinning array of sporting ventures that the brand has flown head first into, but as arguably its most famous face, the wild worlds of Formula One, mountain biking and freefalling may cross his orbit from time to time. With Klopp set to make a leap into the unknown, Mail Sport tries to uncover what on earth he has got himself in for.

Few matchmakers would have paired the capitalist giant with the sentimental manager 

The Austrian beverage giant was looking for a new – and instantly recognisable – face to lead its multi-sport charge

Most people still know Red Bull as the energy drink that ‘gives you wings’.

First founded in 1984 by Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz and Thai pharmacist Chaleo Yoovidhya, the brand is now the third most valuable in the soft drink market, according to Beverage Daily.

This is in no small part down to an unusual marketing campaign focusing on boosting brand awareness through ventures into sport and extreme activities.

On the less pulse-raising end of the scale you have football – or ‘soccer’ as they call it – which is now in the domain of the sport’s quintessential hell-raiser, Klopp.

Red Bull’s influence on the Beautiful Game is nothing new, having taken over Salzburg in 2005, but this year it surged closer to home as it announced its minority stake in Leeds United.

The move raised questions as to what the drinks giant had in store for one of England’s most traditional clubs and, to shed some light on this, it is worth taking a look at some of its existing ventures into the sport.

Salzburg changed their colours from traditional violet to a Red-Bullish red and white and made their home the Red Bull Arena, as they furthered their dominance on the domestic stage and became serious players in Europe.

They use Liefering, in the Austrian second division, as a feeder club. While it might be an effective way to introduce players to European football, imagine the uproar if Leeds were to suggest a similar partnership with Huddersfield Town or Bradford City.

Klopp won the Champions League in a glittering spell as boss at the Merseyside outfit

Red Bull was founded in 1984 by Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz (pictured in 2010)

Red Bull’s influence on the Beautiful Game is nothing new, having taken over Salzburg in 2005 

The jewel in the crown is Leipzig, whose takeover and rebranding from fifth-division club SSV Markranstadt in 2009 generated widespread vitriol.

They became pariahs, with rival clubs admitting they would even prefer multiple champions Bayern Munich to succeed rather than the newcomers. 

But their transformation has been irresistible, with Leipzig soaring four divisions to the Bundesliga by 2016 before adding consecutive DFB Pokal trophies to their tally 2021-22 and 2022-23.

The side has also finished second in the league – in 2020-21 – and reached a Champions League semi-final.

Joining the European clubs, the soft drinks company also has New York Red Bulls and Bragantino in Brazil under the same umbrella.

Sticking to the brand, all their teams play aggressive, high-intensity, high-pressing football – expressed most effectively by the Leipzig team who reached the Champions League semi-final in 2020 under current Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann. 

And none exist in a vacuum, as Everton director of football Kevin Thelwell, head of sport at New York Red Bulls from 2020-22, previously told Mail Sport.

Leipzig became pariahs, with rival clubs admitting they would even prefer multiple champions Bayern Munich to succeed

This year its influence surged closer to home as it announced a minority stake in Leeds United 

Joining the European clubs, the soft drinks company also has New York Red Bulls, as well as Bragantino in Brazil, under the same umbrella

Everton director of football Kevin Thelwell, head of sport at New York Red Bulls from 2020-22, has stressed that there is an overall group identity

‘It’s about being clear on identity,’ he said. ‘It’s not just about how we play.

‘It’s not just about ploughing your own furrow. You have to think about the wider implications for the entire group in every decision you make.’ 

If Red Bull’s drinks and all-conquering football clubs somehow slipped past your radar, then perhaps you know them for their dominant Formula One team.

Managed by Christian Horner, husband of Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, since its formation in 2005, Red Bull Racing became a real force in the sport upon the arrival of Sebastian Vettel in 2009.

They turned a string of poor seasons into a shock second-placed finish that year before embarking on a dizzying run of four consecutive Constructors’ Championships from 2010 to 2013.

The team is now experiencing something of a second wind, with star man Max Verstappen gearing up for a fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship and Red Bull looking to seal a treble of their own. 

They even have a sister side in RB Formula One Team, an Italian outfit which is essentially a rebrand of Scuderia AlphaTauri and, prior to that, Scuderia Toro Rosso. 

In a sport whose teams are inextricably linked with advertising, the sight of a Red Bull car, decked out in red, blue and yellow, whizzing past the chequered flag at 200mph is now one of the most instantly recognisable.

Red Bull Racing has been managed by Christian Horner since the team’s formation in 2005

It became a real force in the sport upon the arrival of multi-time world champion Sebastian Vettel in 2009

The team is now experiencing something of a second wind, with star man Max Verstappen gunning for a fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship

The drinks brand has a hefty roster of athletes representing 88 disciplines including the likes of Ben Stokes (left)

It’s possible, yet unlikely, that each of the above ventures have escaped some people’s attention – but perhaps the hair-raising world of Red Bull’s extreme sports ambitions ring a bell?

The drinks brand has a hefty roster of athletes representing a whopping 88 disciplines, according to its website, including MTB, motorcross, cycling, athletics, and speedway.

Interestingly, this includes world-class cricketers Ben Stokes, KL Rahul and Kagiso Rabada, and rugby’s Jack Nowell, Mack Hansen and Springboks captain Siya Kolisi. 

Tennis stars Stefanos Tsitsipas and Elena Rybakina are also on the team.

Back to more daring pursuits, Thursday marked the start of Red Bull Rampage in the rugged mountains of Utah – one of the premier events in mountain biking. 

Red Bull’s MTB adventure takes the brand across the world, exposing Mexico, Australia, Chile and more to the energy drink.

Sticking to two wheels, the company also sponsors two MotoGP teams: Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Repsol Honda.

And to top it all off, the soft drink giant even has its name in the record books after putting its weight behind Felix Baumgartner’s successful attempt to become the first person to break the sound barrier in freefall.

Back to more daring pursuits, Thursday marked the start of Red Bull Rampage in the rugged mountains of Utah – one of the premier events in mountain biking

Sticking to two wheels, the company also sponsors two MotoGP teams including Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Red Bull even has its name in the record books after putting its weight behind Felix Baumgartner’s successful attempt to become the first to break the sound barrier in freefall

The Austrian skydiver had the world on tenterhooks as he leapt from a height of 38,969.4 metres with nothing but a parachute.

It took more than £12million and five years of painstaking planning to launch Baumgartner from New Mexico to the edge of space.

But, on October 14, 2012, the Red Bull-backed mission bore fruit with eight million people watching live on YouTube, and millions later on the news, seeing the brand’s logo emblazoned on the record-breaker’s parachute suit. 

It all makes Klopp’s heavy metal football seem a bit more like a Frank Sinatra crooning session but if there is any ‘soccer’ sage who can match the energy of Red Bull – it’s Jurgen.