As you may know, I’m a huge fan of the MetroStars, the Major League Soccer team based in the New York City area. Jen and I used to have season tickets when we lived in Brooklyn, and I’ve followed them ever since. Now, in my sixth season as a Metros fan, it looks like my team is about to disappear.
New York Post columnist Ives Galarcep wrote a story yesterday detailing the offer by Austria’s Red Bull company to buy the MetroStars. Here’s an excerpt from the full story:
Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire owner of Red Bull, the energy drink, is known for investing in sports in an effort to advertise his product. He owns a racing team, he has sponsored extreme sports events, and last year, Mateschitz bought a soccer team in his native Austria. All these endeavors have one thing in common. Mateschitz splashed the Red Bull logo all over all of them.
This is apparently the plan for the MetroStars, only with a cruel twist. According to sources within MLS, if Red Bull buys the MetroStars they intend to change the team’s name and colors, and erase the franchise’s history.
So rather than rooting for the Major League Soccer’s lovable losers, MetroStars fans who have endured a decade of disappointment would be forced to root for a glorified billboard for Red Bull or find a new team altogether.
This was the option presented to fans of SV Austria Salzberg, a team with 77 years of tradition at the time Red Bull bought them. That tradition didn’t jive with the new owners’ plan to use the club as new way to advertise their soft drink so Red Bull changed the club’s name to Red Bull Salzberg, erased the history books and told the club’s fans that if they didn’t like the changes they could hit the road.
Very, very scary. According to ESPN, the deal was sealed today. We’ll know more soon, but it looks like this could spell the end of my beloved Metros.
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