Profile — RB Leipzig

RasenBallsport Leipzig e. V., or RB Leipzig for

RasenBallsport Leipzig e.

RasenBallsport Leipzig e. V., or RB Leipzig for short, has only been in the Bundesliga since 2016/17. As of 2019/20, alongside Union Berlin and Paderborn, it is one of the clubs with the shortest spell in Germany’s top division. The Red Bulls play in the Red Bull Arena, the 2006 World Cup stadium with a capacity of 42,959. Because some clubs and fan scenes still boycott Leipzig, tickets there have often been comparatively easy to obtain.

The club was founded in 2009 on the

The club was founded in 2009 on the initiative of Red Bull GmbH and took over the playing licence of SSV Markranstädt for the 2009/10 season in the fifth-tier Oberliga Nordost.

The club was founded in 2009 on the initiative of Red Bull GmbH and took over the playing licence of SSV Markranstädt for the 2009/10 season in the fifth-tier Oberliga Nordost. Since promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in 2014, the professional department and academy teams up to U15 have been spun off into RasenBallsport Leipzig GmbH, which is 99 percent owned by Red Bull and one percent by the club. Because the members of the association are also closely tied to Red Bull, the club is in practice controlled by the company.

In that way the 50+1 rule in German football has effectively been hollowed out. That made Leipzig, especially in their early years, a target for hostile fans in the Oberliga, the 3. Liga, and later the 1. and 2. Bundesliga.

Because of its structure and the accusation that

Because of its structure and the accusation that it is a club without tradition, RB Leipzig is one of the most polarising football clubs in Germany and triggers both unusually positive and unusually negative reactions.

Because of its structure and the accusation that it is a club without tradition, RB Leipzig is one of the most polarising football clubs in Germany and triggers both unusually positive and unusually negative reactions. In YouGov and Nielsen polls the club ranked third among Germany’s most popular clubs, behind Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. That is chiefly due to strong support in Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt.

At the same time it scores badly when active football fans are asked for the most likeable club. In one 2018 sympathy table compiled by the Technical University of Braunschweig, Leipzig finished second from bottom, ahead only of Bayern Munich. In Statista polling from 2017, 48 percent of respondents said they felt neutral toward Leipzig, 28 percent rejected the club and 24 percent supported it.

In that sense Leipzig polarises almost as strongly as Bayern.

The making of RB Leipzig was perfect. On

The making of RB Leipzig was perfect.

The making of RB Leipzig was perfect. On July 2, 2009, the newly founded Red Bull club presented itself and its first signings at the Stadion am Bad in Markranstädt.

Proof: in a 2018 survey by the Technical

Proof: in a 2018 survey by the Technical University of Braunschweig, RB Leipzig ranked second from bottom in the sympathy table.

Proof: in a 2018 survey by the Technical University of Braunschweig, RB Leipzig ranked second from bottom in the sympathy table. Photo / source note as in original.