Football Partnerships

By Alex Kotler

Well before the team’s improbable run to the 2008 MLS Cup, most folks that I talked to about the New York Red Bulls had similar opinions, none of them flattering. These were mainly the disenchanted, snobbish fans of European leagues and disgruntled former employees who had more reason to slander than support. (I grant that my control group was of the skewed variety.)

The press, with the exception of the build-up to last season’s championship match, did little to dissuade popular opinion. The organization was harangued for questionable player signings and criticized for a marketing strategy that seemed to give more priority to pushing a high-energy beverage than a high performance football team. One unnamed critic cited that the ‘proverbial Red Bull didn’t know its horns from its backside’.

And this season, the team resides at the bottom of the table with four wins, 17 losses, and 11 points away from its nearest neighbor in the East, the Kansas City Wizards. The only salvation, given that it’s New York City, is that the sports market is so focused on American football, baseball and basketball that if a Yankee sneezes or a Giant farts, it makes news, and thus the Red Bulls’ failed season has been reduced to obscurity.

All of this serves as the backdrop for my private and personalized tour of Red Bull Arena last Monday, a transformational experience that, in my eyes, has provided not only the silver lining to an abysmal season but to the skyline of Harrison, New Jersey.

From the World Trade Center PATH station, I anxiously set out for the new stadium, counting the minutes to evaluate whether I would even entertain the thought of coming out for a match. Fifteen minutes flat. Well, 18, be we can discount the three minutes that the train conductor wasted to fraternize with a female passenger – they sure weren’t wasted for him.

Approaching Harrison station, Red Bull Arena came into view. Modeled after the Hypo-Arena (formerly Worthersee Stadion) in Klagenfurt, Austria, home of FC Kärnten and an official venue of the UEFA 2008 European Championships, the impressive crown cut a majestic figure in the sky. Stepping out of the train, I descended the stairs and met up with Chris Noble of Copa NYC and two of his colleagues.

“See the stadium on the way in?” he asked.

“Impressive, no?” I replied. He nodded in agreement.

Although we were only, in my estimation, about 600 yards from Red Bull Arena, we were picked up by our chaperones-cum-tour guides, Andrew Lafiosca, Vice President of Marketing & Sales at Red Bull New York, and Aaron Squire, Director of Marketing at Red Bull New York.

I first met Aaron, who chauffeured Chris and myself to the ground, and I slipped into the rear seat of his pick-up designed only for men of my size, infants and small animals. A rugged fellow in jeans and a red, short-sleeved shirt, Aaron fit the bill to be taking a tour of a construction site. In my suit, I look ready to attend a recital.

Solidifying his image in my mind as the Marlboro Man, Aaron apologized for not being able to offer a proper handshake, as his hand had been mangled by the family dog, which, the day before, had swallowed a child’s toy and choked to death before Aaron and his wife resuscitated it. With an object embedded in its throat, the dog’s heartbeat had stopped, Aaron used a screwdriver to break the toy and his wife performed CPR on the animal. In the process of thrashing, trying to clear a wind passage, the frantic dog had inadvertently bitten down upon Aaron’s hand without cease.

I asked myself: If he can bring a dog back to life, what can he do for a bull?

Arriving moments later, we met Dave Jervis, Director of Training Programs for the Red Bulls, who was also on hand for a tour. We sorted out hard hats, neon vests and goggles and made our way into Red Bull Arena via the future site of Gate B.

Far from being the definite article, Red Bull Arena is at a young enough stage that one must envisage where it will be to appreciate where it is. With Andrew, confident and rugged in his own way, filling in the details, little was actually left to the imagination.

The first feature one notices is the cantilever steel roof structure, the inside of the ‘crown’ or shell, which pushes 125 feet inward until the field of play and covering the entire crowd. Thus, matches can be enjoyed comfortably in all weather. The cantilever is built of steel trusses and covered with a polymer fabric, the first 60 feet of which is transparent to allow sunlight and UV rays to feed the field, made of Kentucky Blue grass.

The second, and distinctly European, feature is the fan’s proximity to the field. With the first row seven yards from the touchline and the rest ascending vertically at a steep grade, match supporters will be thrust into the action.

“It’s all about creating atmosphere,” Andrew told us, before encouraging us to walk up from the concrete foundations of the lower (100) level to the reinforced steel and aluminum sections of the upper 200s. “Give the floor a good stomping.”

With the lot of us jumping about like children, unable to hear whatever he said next, his point was made. Red Bull Arena is going to be a loud, in-your-face, on-the-field, you-are-a-part-of-this-match kind of stadium.

The seating capacity is approximately 25,000, which includes 30 luxury Skyboxes and 1,000 Club Seats. Filling it – particularly with all of the state-of-the-art technology designed to enhance the match-day experience – will not be a problem. Picture over 300 video flat-screen panels throughout, field-level LED signage in both end zones and opposite player benches, two video boards on each end of the stadium, and one 360-degree wraparound message board. That’s tuned in.

Keeping things accessible for fans, Red Bull Arena will also include 65 point-of-sale concession stands between the main and upper levels and 20 portable vendor carts on each level to service the fans. There also will be three stadium clubs, two retail shops and five ATMs.

Between myself and my colleagues, we inadvertently conspired to make Andrew’s life difficult, locking horns and hurling every question we could at him, demanding adequate responses.

How will you control crowds? How much will seats in this section be? Who is handling concessions? Does the inclusion of alcohol service depend upon establishing a partnership with another brand? What are some of the alternative uses for Red Bull Arena on non-match days? What kind of toilets will there be? (Yes, I asked.)

Behind his protective goggles, he answered all without blinking. And he provided two reassuring responses to questions that left me doubting my pre-conceived notions.

The first: He acknowledged that all plans, especially pertaining to crowd management and satisfaction, are theoretical and that the organization will address and respond to issues with a degree of sensitivity and flexibility.

The second: He admitted that 25,000 seats, 300 video flat-screen panels and 65 concession stands mean nothing if next season’s starting 11 for the New York Red Bulls are not of a higher standard.

“The product,” he said, “starts on the field.”

Heading back to the city, after making a brief pit-stop in Newark’s Ironbound district for some Portuguese food, I thought of what I had said during the tour to Aaron Squire.

“Just being here, walking around, I get the feeling – even though I haven’t lifted hammer or nail – that I am a part of something, that I am helping to build Red Bull Arena and Red Bull New York.”

“You are,” he said, and with that I let go of what I’d heard and seen and got ready to become a fan.

For more information on Red Bull Arena, including features and directions, click here.