In the ever-long fight among European clubs to capture the hearts of American soccer fans, German teams have been among the leaders – selling their fan-focused culture to the United States despite a language barrier.
The latest to make the push is RB Leipzig, the East German powerhouse club whose meteoric rise by skirting German football’s ‘purest’ rule is as inspirational as it is controversial.
Over the course of four days in April, DailyMail.com got an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the club’s operations and spoke with multiple decision-makers within the team – all leading to Leipzig’s announcement that they were off to the United States on the club’s first international tour. They play Aston Villa at the home of their sister-club, the New York Red Bulls, on Wednesday. A second match against Wolverhampton Wanderers takes place August 3 in Miami.
It’s a massive step for the club in an attempt to grow its image outside of Germany, where many football fans view RBL as the antithesis of what makes the sport in their country pure.
But Leipzig as an organization is looking to link itself with innovation, technology, and a story of promotion from the fifth tier to consistent Champions League appearances in just 15 years. Now, the club will hope that message sticks with soccer fans in the USA.
RB Leipzig is off on its first international tour – playing two matches in the United States
DailyMail.com got an inside look at the workings of Germany’s most controversial club
Leaders within the team believe that it’s the perfect time for them to embark on their first international tour.
‘Why now? Because we are ready now,’ said Johann Plenge, RB Leipzig’s Chief Strategy Officer, at an event in Germany announcing the American tour.
‘We perceive that as we are in the top four of the Bundesliga clubs in terms of engagement in the US, now it’s the right time for the club… and the staff and everyone else who’s joining and supporting this journey to go abroad.’
In the US, they’re following in the footsteps of multiple Bundesliga clubs who have expanded internationally through playing in America.
The two biggest clubs in Germany – Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund – have opened offices in New York City. While Leipzig sources say they hope to eventually follow in those footsteps, they view the tour as more of a crucial first step along that path.
A major part of the club’s success in the US involves the New York Red Bulls, beyond just playing the game at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.
The club used RBNY’s facilities to train and partnered with their sister club to help sell tickets to the Villa match.
Sources within the club say they hope to utilize RBNY’s already established connection to the American market to help distinguish them from other teams in Europe. They also say they’ll share knowledge of the global market and landscape to aid RBNY in growth worldwide.
‘We don’t just come to the market to do a marketing tour and to “cash in”,’ one source said, adding, ‘For us being in the market and actually doing stuff with the people there is a way to distinguish ourselves.’
RB Leipzig chief Johann Plenge believes the club is ready to look outside German borders
The Festwiese outside the Red Bull Arena prior to RB Leipzig’s game with Borussia Dortmund
It’ll be impossible to replicate the atmosphere that the Bundesliga prides itself on in the USA
With this being their first foray into the United States, Leipzig have a lot of catching-up to do. In addition to the aforementioned US offices for Bayern and Dortmund, the Bundesliga itself has had a presence in America for some time now.
They’ll also compete against Premier League clubs coming over for the summer. The EPL has an advantage not only in perceived level of play, but in speaking the same language as a majority of Americans.
Leipzig has taken some steps to combat the latter issue through an English-language social media presence, but they also have reasonable expectations for their first venture into the United States.
A source told MailSport, ‘We cannot expect that we conquer the US market by being there once, no matter what cool things we are doing. It is one step of many that will follow.’
By watching their German compatriots enter the market, RB Leipzig will be able to learn lessons which could help them find success.
Before a matchup between Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig at the end of April, Dortmund marketing director Carsten Cramer told DailyMail.com what his club has learned going into the United States.
‘I think you always have to ask yourself, where do you stand as a brand?,’ Cramer said. ‘Never try to create a story which is not authentic just in order to attract people. Then it won’t be credible.’
Borussia Dortmund marketing director Carsten Cramer speaks to reporters in April
The Red Bull Arena overlooking the Elster Basin in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
An empty Red Bull Arena days prior to a match with Borussia Dortmund in April 2024
Which is where we turn to Red Bull, because the controversy surrounding the club’s success is one that is impossible to ignore.
One of the core tenants of German football these days is the 50+1 rule, which ensures paying fan members have a majority of ownership in their football clubs and prevents takeovers by outside companies or nations.
Some clubs like Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg, who had ties to major companies since inception, were exempt from this while other clubs – like Hoffenheim – were scorned.
And then there’s Leipzig, which fell in a similar boat as Hoffenheim – but found much greater success thanks to their ties to the Austrian beverage giant.
Sources at the club say that most of the controversy surrounding its relationship with Red Bull was restricted to within Germany and was mostly focused at the beginning of their time in the Bundesliga. They point to recent Nielsen polling data showing that they’re the seventh most popular club in the country, claiming that’s a sign that people are buying what the club is selling.
But even this past season there have been protests. In early April, Leipzig away fans found their section in Heidenheim covered in foul-smelling butyric acid. Earlier in the season, Union Berlin supporters stayed silent in protest for the first 15 minutes of their home match against RBL. Previously, fans haven’t even shown up to their own ground to watch the match.
‘I think, like everything, people get used to stuff and there is maybe no longer that fundamental, visceral animosity,’ German soccer writer Raphael Honigstein told DailyMail.com. ‘But to extrapolate [from the Nielsen poll] that people like them [more], or dislike them less, I’m not sure that’s true.’
The club has won two DFB-Pokal titles (right) as well as the DFL-SuperCup (center)
An interior look at RB Leipzig’s training facility in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
An exterior look at RB Leipzig’s training facility in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
But while that’s how they’re perceived in Germany, club sources believe that in the United States, this controversy won’t be the same ‘because internationally, investors in sports is just a very common thing.’
So what do they want to be known for? For starters, they want to show that despite their heavy investment, it’s still a remarkable accomplishment to move up through the ranks over the course of 15 years to where they are now.
The club will look to share their story: one of four promotions in the club’s first eight seasons that would appear, on the surface, to be an underdog tale.
It was only a few years ago they surprised everyone by breaking into the semifinals of the Champions League. Now, the club is consistently in Europe’s top club competition.
They also want to show how committed they are to building their team naturally throughout the Red Bull Soccer system. As a source put it, ‘we don’t buy Messi’s, we make Messi’s’ through unique technological innovations (like a fully immersive training tool/environment called the SoccerBot 360) and dedication to scouting the right talent.
Beyond that, there’s also the fact that Leipzig has righted a national wrong by becoming an incredibly successful East German club in the top flight.
While they may not be one of the original clubs from the old DDR-Oberliga like Hansa Rostock, Dynamo Dresden, or FC Magdeburg, RB Leipzig have been able to attract talent and pride from around the former communist bloc because of their meteoric rise.
RB Leipzig is hoping to align itself with the latest in training technology and innovation
That includes their use of the SoccerBot360 – a fully immersive and interactive training tool
As one Leipzig source told DailyMail.com, ‘We don’t buy Messi’s, we make Messi’s’
It’s hard to predict how Leipzig’s message will be received in the United States. The club seems to want to find a way for people to care about their identity and their success while ignoring the controversies that are tied to it back in Germany.
But club sources insist this tour will be one phase into their international expansion: ‘The tour will be one tool, but we have to tell our story all the way through many opportunities in the market even after the tour.’
Who knows how American fans will react. Some, who already follow the Bundesliga, have likely made their mind up about RBL. But others might not care – choosing to align themselves with a club that’s sponsored by a popular brand and will accept the underdog story.
Regardless, no one can doubt that this is the perfect time – and a perfect location, one that’s already familiar with Red Bull soccer – for the club to try to globalize.
All that remains is the results. Will they be sweet, like a can of their namesake energy drink? Or will it be like a long-opened Red Bull can and come up flat?