RB Leipzig Unloved In Climb to Budesliga

Perhaps the most controversial team ever begins its first Bundesliga season Sunday when RB Leipzig visits TSG Hoffensheim in the season opener for both clubs.

The problem with Leipzig, according to the New York Times article by Rory Smith is that it is seen as nothing more than a marketing tool for Red Bull, the Austrian energy drink maker.  Founded in 2009, RB lacks the history and tradition of the other teams and does not really follow the "50+1" model of the other teams, which are owned by  their members.  There only 17, each of whom pay about $900 per year, while Bayern München has 224,000 members at about $65 annually.

As Hallescher fan Julius Klappen put it, "“They are just money. A team is the colors, the badge, the identity.”  Or as Marko Hoffman, the schoolteacher who volunteers with the more traditional Lokomotiv Leipzig said, "RB is just marketing. It exists only to sell more energy drinks. And what happens if they lose interest, or if [owner] Dieter Mateschitz dies? What if they decide to leave the town? Or if they examine the books and say it is not working? What happens then?”