Red Bull Attempts To Break Through Commercialization

Mateschitz Says Profits Not Driving Force For Red Bulls’ Investment In Sports

Red Bull’s sports marketing efforts are examined by ESPN THE MAGAZINE Keating & Roenigk, who noted that the publication’s annual fan survey found that 60% of respondents think “commercialization of sports has gone too far.” Many companies, in return for TV ad dollars, “want a say in everything from starting times to playoff formats to which celebrities get interviewed during games,” but Red Bull “pumps its cash through fundamentally different channels.” The company “treats its motorsports and soccer expenses as part” of its $1.2B marketing budget. Red Bull CEO Dietrich Mateschitz: “We are not team owners looking for profits.” Keating & Roenigk note Red Bull “wants to plug fans back in to the thrill of live competition.” To do that, the company stages “buzzworthy events at spectacular venues” and “crams them with entertainment.” Red Bull records the events “live to tape or webcasts them rather than producing them exclusively for TV.” An air race Red Bull sponsored in Istanbul in July drew more than 1.5 million fans, the “most ever for a sports event.” The company also brought a MotoGP race to California, “the first in the U.S. in more than 10 years,” so American fans could watch Nicky Hayden, the sport’s “greatest star, in person” (ESPN THE MAGAZINE, 12/18 issue).