Energy drink giant and prominent multi-sport ownership group Red Bull has completed its acquisition of English rugby union side Newcastle Falcons for a reported fee of £39 million ($52.9 million).
Red Bull has immediately renamed the club Newcastle Red Bulls, doing away with the Falcons moniker to bring the team in line with other Red Bull-owned sports teams like Formula 1’s Red Bull Racing, and soccer’s New York Red Bulls in MLS, Red Bull Bragantino in Brazil, and, perhaps most prominently, RB Leipzig in Germany.
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The team will remain at its 10,200-capacity Kingston Park stadium while director of rugby Steve Diamond will remain in the role, with Red Bull solely having pledged to make the club debt-free and to invest in the club’s youth academy.
Although no commercial deals have been confirmed as yet, it is likely that, at the very least, Red Bull's energy drink arm will step in as the team's primary sponsor going forward, a deal that could help galvanize its sponsorship portfolio and pave the way toward financial sustainability.
The Falcons were put up for sale at the end of 2024 after several fallow years, finishing bottom of the Premiership for three straight seasons between 2022-23 and 2024-25 (and second-bottom in 2021-22) as the team struggled to bounce back from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the general financial malaise in English rugby laid out in a report last year.
In April, the club announced a recruitment freeze after sustaining significant financial losses, and its future seemed in jeopardy, with the demises of London Irish, Wasps, and Worcester for similar reasons still fresh in the mind.
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By GlobalDataIn a briefing published earlier this year, GlobalData Sport associate analyst Tom Subak-Sharpe discussed the prospective Red Bull takeover, commenting: “The acquisition of Newcastle Falcons by Red Bull, coupled with the rebranding of Premiership Rugby, could signify a transformative period for the club and the league. With Red Bull’s financial resources and strategic vision, there is optimism for a resurgence in the club’s performance and commercial viability.
Indeed, the upcoming 2025-26 campaign will be the first since Premiership Rugby announced a rebrand and will now be known simply as the Prem, a move that it believes will aid it in attracting new demographics and commercial partners to the sport.
Title sponsored by insurance firm Gallagher, the Prem rebrand, complete with a new logo, iconography, and brand palette, was unveiled at the 2024-25 Premiership final on June 14.
Subak-Sharpe continued: “Over the years, Red Bull has been active in the rugby sponsorship market, including an expired multi-year deal with the RFU worth $900,000 per year to serve as the official energy drink partner of England Rugby.
“The energy drink brand has recruited a number of current high-caliber rugby players in its brand ambassador portfolio, including Jack Nowell, Mack Hansen, and the current captain of world champions South Africa, Siya Kolisi. The Falcons purchase marks a significant moment for Red Bull in its association with rugby union, as it is the brand’s first-ever rugby club takeover.”
