Something is brewing in the Austrian land of Salzburg. In the picturesque region that is not on the border with Germany, there are two of the most impressive European footballers. One has already reached the Champions League, while the other is hiding with intent in the 3rd point of Austrian football.
Red Bull Salzburg is a disgraceful nuisance to their opponents, only in an Austrian league they can dominate for years, but now also in UEFA competitions.
They have become a dynamic factory of football skills. The dream of an analyst and the new favorite destination of the scouts, but motivated by the marketing of Red Bull that a football identity beyond tactics, knowledge and process.
Some Salzburg RB enthusiasts will disagree, and the above summary may be harsh for those joining the team, but others were so dissatisfied with the acquisition of Red Bull that they made the decision to take them to SV Austria Salzburg. .
The Red Bull Arena in Rb Salzburg will offer a fit day experience, and the same atmosphere and fanfare of a typical Central European club are provided and correct.
Participants will no doubt enjoy watching some of the club’s talented young footballers before moving to big brother club RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga, or make a big profit by leaving the Red Bull system, thus financing the process. the team will become a gear in a device that in a full-fledged club.
What if something similar could be done in the Austrian Bundesliga and yet be managed and financed through football enthusiasts from all over the world than through an energy drinks company that seeks to make itself known through football?
To the southwest of the city of Salzburg, through Germany that stands out from the other side of the Berchtesgaden Alps, is the city of Saalfelden, home of the new football team, owned by football enthusiasts. And not just enthusiasts from the region, but from all over the world. This club is FC Pinzgau Saalfelden.
“The club was founded in 2007, but only recently do we have the assets of the fans,” explains Pinzgau’s general manager, Mark Ciociola.
“Although we are an Austrian club, we aim in particular at an English-speaking fan base, basically from the United States, but openly to everyone.
“Fan ownership is virtually non-existent in the U.S. Outside the gates of some very regional clubs. As football evolved in the United States, I sought to bring the joy of fan ownership to enthusiasts there, and to a higher level.
“Here at FC Pinzgau, we bring an exclusive technique to the concept of a club owned by the fans.”
One of those elements comes in the way this asset takes.
Many groups belonging to the most sensitive enthusiasts are on the other side of the border in the German football league system. Their approach to ownership consists of payments from clubs that are paid each year, and main clubs such as FC Bayern and Schalke 04 charge a maximum payment of 60 and 50 euros in line with the year, respectively. In return, those enthusiasts have something to say about how the club is managed, helps to maintain their ties with the local community, while contributing financially to the club.
FC Pinzgau approaches this differently. Although it costs more for the owner, the minimum lately admission is $500, this is a one-time ticket and not an annual club fee.
“It’s a genuine property,” Ciociola adds. “Shares can be purchased and exchanged at the owner’s convenience.”
It’s less a social and cultural contract than an investment, but that means that the transfer will only fear the owners of the homes of foreign fanatics.
The importance of party enthusiasts becomes much more evident now that matches are played behind closed doors due to protection regulations around Covid-19. Without those enthusiasts in the stands, clubs have very little identity.
Perhaps the global is itself an identity, but Pinzgau also encourages local flavor and local participation in the team.
“There were doubts about what the club’s local hobby would look like,” says Ciociola.
“Everyone was pleasantly surprised in the fall when attendance doubled and “international players” became fan favorites. In a humble way, enthusiasts would wonder why the boys who played in Major League Soccer would need to come and play in Saalfelden.
“We’re just starting to sell stocks to the local fan base. We came with a seasonal card with a $500 investment. The locals seem happy with all the notoriety of their club, and also help that we’ve won!”
“Surely we need to create two fan bases and integrate them as much as possible. We think it’s a wonderful way for other people to un team up through sport, all over the world.
At a recent convention with the club’s fans and head coach, Christian Ziege, one of the club’s coaches, Jake Simons, commented on the importance of this local aspect.
“We are doing everything we can to engage and delight Austrian enthusiasts through the Austrian aspect of the group of owners,” Simons said.
“Working for, as a component of fan ownership benefits, comes with those enthusiasts on the things we do with this group. We anticipate that through the game and the sale of the equipment, things like the stadium and the fun of the game will also improve.
“In my verbal exchange with Christian Herzog, one of the original founders, I think there’s a general enthusiasm around the team’s ambition. I think the fun component is to get advantages from the culture of local enthusiasts and the game itself in Saalfelden.”
The club’s concepts were born in part from the boundaries of football in the United States. There is no promotion or relegation in the United States, so a well-controlled MLS outdoor club will not naturally upgrade a poorly controlled or apathy-controlled club in the United States and Canada’s so-called first division.
“The concept started just over 3 years ago,” says Ciociola. “Living in Salt Lake City at the time, I had a Real Salt Lake fan and a seasonal subscriber.
“As I continued to invest more time, power and in the club, it made me think. All of us, the hobby, invest all this in the club and at the end of the day, we have no monetary benefit.
“We also don’t know what’s happening in the front workplace or in the owner’s workplace. There’s got to be a better way of thinking. Why can’t enthusiasts see more about what’s going on inside the club? Why can’t enthusiasts gain economic benefits when the club is doing well and is gaining value? »
“With that, I started looking for a better way to own a football club. A way that the fans are the owners. A way in which they can interact and make a contribution to the conduct of politics in a way never before noticed in the world. sport.
“We would take a club and instead of having a millionaire or a billionaire, we would cut it into a bunch of bits and sell them to the average fans, allowing them to own a genuine component of the club.”
“Then we would create a delight for fans/owners never before seen in world sport, a delight that allows unprecedented participation and participation.”
Just as there are reviews of the Red Bull model, there will also be those who also disapprove of this type of ownership of the fans, but with Pinzgau, all their intentions and concepts are already open.
One of the reasons why this allowance was established in Austria is the option to play European football as soon as possible. Austria is recently ranked 12th in the UEFA country ratio, and this alone in the coming years will it appreciate the progress of RB Salzburg and LASK Linz at this season’s European festival.
Indirectly, Red Bull Salzburg’s progress may allow other ambitious Austrian groups to qualify for continental tournaments as they will contribute to the coefficient.
Fans who have already invested in the club have commented on how this greater participation and ambition is turning their eyes into the sport.
Head coach Ziege, a former player who has played for some of the world’s biggest clubs, FC Bayern, Milan and Liverpool, shares this ambition and believes it increases excitement around the club in the region.
“It’s unique,” Ziege said on the conference call. “I don’t know if it’s going to fall all over the world, and I’m not talking about big-budget football, I’m talking about creating something in Austria and having ambition.”
“As always, if you do something new, especially from abroad, other people start talking and saying, “How will it work? It will never work, ” but there are also other people who are excited and say, “Hey, this can be smart for the club and for the whole region.”
“When I started, there were about a hundred spectators in the games, now there are 400-500 and everyone is so pleased to watch smart football, play with ambition, and a lot of people came and enjoyed it.
Ziege also the importance of young players appearing in the region.
“The progression of a youth academy deserves to be a pass,” he adds. “This domain is vast and we are the only club right now. Any talented young player in this draw deserves to enjoy the bets for this club, in a different way you will have to move to Salzburg.”
“But if players know there is a youth academy in Pinzgau Saalfelden, you have a wonderful chance of integrating the greatest young talents into your club and that’s the next purpose we have.
“The most important thing for me is to bring those players to the first team, let them play for the first team and, obviously, after a season or two, you sell that player to a bigger club. It’s a scenario where everyone wins because expand this guy, he plays well, he goes to another club and we make money. So this will be a top and sensible priority”.
Some of the concepts correspond to those of other football clubs around the world, but the foundations on which they are based are, as Ziege says, unique.
Matches are streamed to amateur homeowners around the world, while the lifestyle of a local homeowners organization will see an amateur culture expand naturally over time.
As in the case of RB Salzburg, there will be opponents, however, this region of Austria now has another entrepreneurial allocation that could soon compete with the Red Bull team in the Austrian Bundesliga and, if all goes according to plan, rise to austria’s presence. on the European stage.
From America to Africa, I practice football all over the world for Forbes. My Fit Day reports on the English Premier League, Liverpool, Everton and
From America to Africa, I practice football all over the world for Forbes. My match day reports are concentrated in the English Premier League, Liverpool, Everton and Manchester City teams from the press gallery in the UK and Europe. The widest angles are concentrated in world football: from World Cups to the Champions League finals, from youth football to foreign matches, I have written on all facets of the beautiful game for media such as The Guardian, BBC and Goal. I have reported on matches in the main nations of European football, adding the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga, and I have also written a lot about football in North America and Africa. Some of my paintings refer to in-depth tactical research and popularity reports, examining the play styles of various head coaches, game numbers and their long-term stars. I am the founding editor of the Football Media Global Football Index, which produces articles, podcasts and reports from journalists, scouts, coaches and fans.