I had a long discussion with my friends about this when we went to the semi-final of Pokal back in May. I basically asked a question like what
@Kliq wrote - something they boiled down to, “how are they worse than Bayern?” And they looked shocked that I would even need to ask such a question. And it took them a minute to kind of get their footing to answer, as if it should have been completely self-evident to anyone and because of that, they’d never even had to ponder it. The answer below is based on that conversation and some additional research I did on my own following that discussion.
@Dummy Hoy it definitely wasn’t an East thing specifically. Leipzig, of course, is in the East, and some of their biggest critics are in the West—though the club culture between Union and RBL is as different as can be, which adds to the enmity from Union. It kind of boils down to a few things.
1) Corporate Money: Red Bull searched Germany for the right spot to pick up a team on the cheap and run it up the pyramid as quickly as possible. They tried with several other more established clubs (including
FC St. Pauli, an attempt which should tell you how little they considered fan reaction at the start of this process because that was NEVER going to happen) until eventually settling on a bankrupt, 5th tier team that nobody cared about, because nobody else's supporters would allow it. They had financial and sporting advantages that were far beyond what any other clubs at that level could dream of, and naturally moved up more or less directly. The way that German professional football is organized means that the clubs are primarily owned by the fans through the
50+1 Rule. In fact, up until 1998, any private ownership of clubs was not permitted (which helps explain why ticket/concession prices are so low, but clearly has disadvantages when trying to compete in UEFA competitions). Even Bayern is 82% owned by its fans. RBL were in the Regionalliga and had a former Bundesliga head coach (Ralf Ranganick - who pioneered the model with Hoffenheim a few years before, to much consternation) and started running away with their competitions at that level. By 2014, they were in the 2. Bundesliga and spending more than most 1. Bundesliga clubs. There is a pretty pervasive anti-corporate culture in Germany, particularly in Berlin, so this kind of underscores the distaste for RBL here.
2) Bending the Rules: First, keep in mind that Germans will yell at you for jaywalking. There is a huge cultural pressure to follow the rules, and the motivation to watch and make sure that your neighbor does so as well. RBL's financial advantages were combined with a management strategy that bent rules and ignored historical norms. When RBL was formed, instead of votes of tens of thousands of members, their membership started with just 9 Red Bull employees ("Salzuburgers become Leipzigers" from the sign). Their 'partnerships' with other Red Bull teams (Salzburg, NY, Ghana and Brazil) have helped them shuttle players around in ways not available to other clubs. The transfer and loan arrangements among supposedly independent teams have raised eyebrows, as I'm sure you all know. The "RB" in RB Leipzig infamously stands for "Rasen Ballsport" (lawn ball sport) since corporate sponsors are not allowed in DFL team names. RBL is doing things like that and manipulating sponsorship deals, transfers, etc. to comply with the letter of DFL laws, while flaunting them at the same time. It's the same sort of complaints with other mega-clubs in Europe/UK, but it's particularly glaring in the Bundesliga because there are fewer examples (and the ones that are there aren't as 'in your face' about it). There were still only a handful of club members as recently as 2014. This has been opened up, but is still costly (70-1000 euros!) and comes with no voting rights. My membership at Union, for example, is 10e/month and I have voting rights, can attend annual meetings, etc.
3) Fan Culture/Lack Thereof: All of these things are very much intertwined. Because there was no fan base to speak of when Red Bull acquired the club, they could do pretty much what they wanted without any of the resistance or supporters that they encountered from some of their earlier targets. I can't decide if it's to their credit or embarrassment that the RBL Fans have aggressively embraced it, but the supporters do a "Rasen-Ballsport" call-and-response during the games and proudly use that term. The fans don't seem to mind calling attention to the way that their team has gotten ahead at all. Which, in conjunction with a lack of history, songs, fan traditions, etc., helps to keep the team separate from the others. Union Berlin is culturally extremely different from RBL. I've talked a lot about the history of Union Berlin and how the club was essentially kept afloat by its supporters during some difficult times, to the point of donating blood to raise money and literally building the stadium, etc....well it feels a little like orphan from a bad public school in the city, stayed out of trouble without having any positive influences around, worked his way into and through college, washing dishes all night before going to class in the morning studying during every free second, graduating with debt and comparing him to the kid who just had his dad donate a building to his Ivy League school and had all the connections for internships. They both are qualified for the job, but one clearly had some advantages that the other didn't. In that kind of example, I guess Bayern is the rich kid who worked hard whose family made sure he worked in the mailroom first, didn't give him any special favors, but still started from privilege.
There's probably still more to it. And there is most definitely an element of jealousy as well. But RBL's approach is offensive to most Germans in particular, and even more so among supporters of some clubs in particular. Hope that helps expand on it a bit. And to be clear, I agree that the general German reaction to RBL is overdone, but I get it better now after having discussed it. with them.