Rumor: Red Bull "investigating" adding A-League club to Global Soccer portfolio

John Stensholt reports for the weekend edition of the Australian Financial Review that Papa Red Bull is interested in "buying or establishing a team in A-League". Indeed, the AFR report goes on to state that Papa already has a clear preference:

Red Bull for now is said to be looking for a new team to start from scratch, rather than buy an established name and risk alienating a fan base.

The news is in the context of an article about A-League's efforts to attract more investors. The piece offers no conclusions - A-League hasn't reached that point of its discussions. But one idea reportedly being floated will be familiar to those who follow MLS:

[Chairman of Football Federation Australia, Steven Lowy] foresees a model where the league operates as a sort of joint venture with the clubs in common ownership.

Sounds very similar to the single-entity model adopted by MLS: a model Papa Red Bull certainly understands.

"Red Bull to buy soccer team" rumors are, of course, extremely common. There is reason to believe they aren't all unfounded, but Red Bull hasn't added to its Global Soccer portfolio since it established RB Leipzig in 2009. Red Bull Salzburg was created in 2005; the New York Red Bulls joined Papa's soccer family in 2006; RB Brasil was founded in 2007.

That's the Red Bull Soccer family: Brasil, Leipzig, Salzburg, and New York. Red Bull Ghana was set-up in 2008 and dissolved in 2014.

The rumor mill thinks it is long past time for Red Bull to buy another soccer team, but the official line out of RB Global Soccer has long been that the organization is happy with its current group of clubs and has no plans to expand.

But plans change. Per AFR, A-League wants more investors, and Red Bull is a well-established soccer investor. It perhaps also should be noted that Red Bull takeover rumors have been used for no better reason than publicity in the past. If the word is being put out that A-League wants new investors as the same time as a headline-grabbing Red-Bull-to-A-League rumor emerges...well, one could be forgiven for finding the timing convenient.

The test of these stories is generally how quickly and confidently Red Bull comes out to deny them. That sound you hear is the Australian press calling Oliver Mintzlaff for comment.

H/T @richransom21