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Leeds United minority owners Red Bull's future plans analysed after Everton and Newcastle deals

Soft drinks giant Red Bull has a huge marketing budget

Leeds United's 2024/25 shirts are emblazoned with the Red Bull logo

Some eyebrows were raised over Red Bull, Leeds United's minority shareholders, adding Premier League clubs Newcastle United and Everton to the list of clubs they are commercially affiliated to. The soft drinks giant agreed to become the Toffees' official energy drink partner last week in a similar deal to their partnership with the Magpies.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire said: “Red Bull has a huge marketing budget. It spends well into double digits in terms of percentage points on marketing and advertising.

“It will have assessed all of the global markets because it is a global product for industries that it wants to be associated.

“Clearly, it has its European links with RB Leipzig and so on, as well as its connection to Formula One. But the Premier League is the crème de la crème in terms of global access to eyeballs.

“It is viewed in 197 different countries and it could be that Red Bull has assessed this and concluded that English football, whether with Leeds in the Championshipor Everton and Newcastle in the Premier League, is so important that it has to be in the market if it wants to get is product into the mindsets of consumers.“

As well as buying a minority stake in the Whites back in May, Red Bull are also United's front-of-shirt sponsors for the 2024/25 season. Although it is a lucrative deal, there was a mixed reaction from supporters to Red Bull's investment in the club.

United, who raised over £100m through player sales this summer, are in the second year of receiving parachute payments. “There is a possibility that the remit of the independent regulator could be expanded and look at issues in terms of parachute payments,” Maguire told TBR Football.

“My main concern is that, if the regulator looks at parachute payments in isolation of broader distribution issues, it would be a huge negative step. This could only be justified if you adjust parachute payments in tandem with a refinancing of wider distribution.

“I suspect Leeds United, given that they are in the second year of their parachute payments and could get £40m this year, are probably ambivalent because their focus will be on getting to the Premier League. Once clubs get to the Premier League, they then view the regulator as an interference and a hindrance.”

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