A RED BULL MARKET MLS board of governors expected to OK sale of Metros by AEG to Red Bull on Wednesday
Replace Salzburg with New York and you have MLS's latest team logo.
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
The MetroStars could be history as early as today.
In their place would be the New York Red Bulls.
The MLS board of governors has scheduled a Wednesday meeting during which a vote is expected to be held to approve the purchase of the Metros by Red Bull, the Austrian energy drink manufacturer, from the Anschutz Entertainment Group, according to league-wide sources.
Soccer America also reported similar information in its MLS Confidential newsletter Tuesday night.
“It is a done deal,” according to a league source familiar with the situation.
As of Tuesday night, the league hadn’t decided on whether it will make an official announcement of the sale this week or next, sources said.
According to league sources, the team will be known as the New York Red Bulls, have a logo similar to that of Red Bull Salzburg and sport red home uniforms and white away uniforms.
The team also will be re-branded -- before its season kicks off at D.C. United April 2. The Metros’ 10-year history is expected to be will be history -- wiped out – sources said, as happened to SV Wüstenrot Salzburg when it was transformed into Red Bull Salzburg after the energy drink company bought the Austrian First Division club April 6, 2005.
The new Red Bulls logo will be similar to the one used by Red Bull Salzburg, except that New York will replace Salzburg. The logo, which accompanies this story, has the name Red Bull (in red) on top of the logo, with two red bulls charging toward a soccer ball in the middle. The city's name, Salzburg, is at the bottom in blue.
Members of the Metros front office were told by an AEG representative on Tuesday to replace all instances of MetroStars with Red Bull, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting.
Another source said that Red Bull plans to replace many members of the front office, although that information could not be verified.
There apparently had been a hold on anything MetroStars at the league level – media guides, promotional materials until the sale went through.
That included items outside of the league. For example, soccer stores that sell Metros replica jerseys have been told that they won't be coming in the foreseeable future.
"I've been told, ‘Don't plan on anything MetroStars anytime soon,’ " Iain McNee said Tuesday night.
"I imagine that adidas will get something off their team line for this season," added McNee, the owner of The Onion Bag in North Bergen, N.J. and www.OnionBag.com.
McNee said that if a name change was announced it would take three to four weeks for a new uniform to come out. He said that Red Bulls replica jerseys probably would be available the second week of the season.
Red Bull has agreed to pay at least $30 million to AEG to buy the Metros. The deal could reach $50 million or more if it also includes naming rights to the Harrison, N.J. stadium, sources said. The stadium is scheduled to open late next year or early 2008.
Regardless, it would be the highest purchase price for a team in MLS history and raise the ante for other companies or potential owners who want to buy into the league.
Moreover, it also means that AEG finally will jettison one of the five teams that it owns. AEG also owns D.C. United, which is on the block after a sale to a Northern Virginia real estate developer fell through in January, current MLS Cup champion Los Angeles Galaxy, Chicago Fire and the newly named Houston Dynamo.
Reached by telephone in Los Angeles Tuesday night, AEG spokesman Michael Roth again downplayed the sale.
“It is still speculation,” he said. “We haven’t announced anything. It’s speculation, a rumor.”
Former Cosmos star midfielder Franz Beckenbauer, the head of the German local organizing committee for the World Cup, also has played a key role in the negotiations, sources said. It was not known exactly what role he would have, though sources speculated that Beckenbauer could wind up with equity and have a say in running of the club.
Beckenbauer, president of Bayern Munich, lives in Kitzbühel, Austria, just over the German border, and is good friends with and an advisor to Red Bull owner and Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz.
Reached via e-mail, Beckenbauer’s assistant, Marcus Höfl, wrote that the man known as Der Kaiser plans to come to New York in April.
As of Tuesday night, the Metros planned to host the New England Revolution in their 11th home opener April 8.
By Wednesday night, that game could be billed as the Red Bulls' inaugural home match at Giants Stadium that Saturday.
Michael Lewis can be reached at BigAppleEdit@aol.com. He will only answer letters and e-mails that are signed or have names.
