Red Bull considers acquisition of Serie A club, says report
Red Bull is looking to expand its empire of soccer clubs into Italy with links to a team currently competing in Serie A. Currently, Red Bull has ownership stakes in clubs across five countries on three continents. Those are RB Leipzig, RB Salzburg, Bragantino in Brazil and New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer. Most recently, Red Bull partnered with a French billionaire to take over Paris FC, which currently plays in Ligue 2. Adding to those expansions, Red Bull is in conversation with Torino of Serie A.
Sharing a city with Juventus, Torino is a historically significant side in Italy. Under the current ownership of UT Communication and Urbano Cairo, Torino has maintained a spot in Serie A for the last 13 years, including 2024/25. Now, Red Bull is looking to expand on the partnership that started this year. Red Bull signed on with Torino as a one-year sponsor for the club. That was the first instance of Red Bull dipping into the Italian soccer market. Acquiring Torino FC would build upon the growth of multi-club ownership groups that extend across Europe’s top five leagues.
Red Bull’s plans also include the motion to buy Turin’s Stadio Olimpico, the location where Torino plays. This would give Torino FC ownership of the stadium as opposed to renting out access to the venue. However, those deals would be separate entities, and Red Bull’s potential takeover of Torino FC would stand alone.
According to Austrian publications, Red Bull has met with the current ownership of Torino three times. Such consistent meetings would suggest the talks are progressing well between Red Bull and Torino FC. Still, there is no indication if Torino would change its name to Red Bull Torino or RB Torino.
Multi-club ownership groups taking over as Red Bull targets Serie A
Red Bull has pioneered the idea of one entity owning clubs from across the world. Part of the reason for that is that the clubs under Red Bull’s umbrella share a name. The ‘Red Bull’ or ‘RB’ tag is something any soccer fan would recognize. However, Red Bull is far from the only organization that has a hand in one person or conglomerate owning multiple clubs.
City Football Group, which has Manchester City as its top club, has a stake in clubs in England, Italy, Brazil, France, the United States, Australia, India and Uruguay, among others. Both Red Bull and City Football Group use these partnerships to develop players and reduce transfer fees. While governing bodies have worked to minimize the threat to a fair transfer market, these groups of clubs can share ideas with one another, making them invaluable. For example, Torino FC could adopt some of the ideologies that have made RB Leipzig and Salzburg so successful in recent seasons.
As of now, there is no confirmed price for how much Red Bull would be paying Cairo and the rest of the Torino ownership for its acquisition. However, should the deal go through, the majority of owners in Serie A will no longer be Italian.
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