New York Red Bulls
Red Bull New York, commonly referred to as RBNY, is an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. They compete in Major League Soccer as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and began play in the league's inaugural season in 1996 as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. In 2006, the team was sold to Red Bull GmbH and re-branded to New York Red Bulls, as part of the company's global network of soccer clubs. In early 2026, the club tweaked its name to Red Bull New York and slightly adjusted its logo.
Red Bull New York have played their home matches at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, since 2010, having previously played at Giants Stadium. The club is one of two teams in MLS based in the New York metropolitan region along with New York City FC, which entered the league in 2015. The two teams compete against each other in the Hudson River Derby. Other rivals include the New England Revolution and fellow MLS originals D.C. United.
RBNY have reached the MLS Cup final twice, in 2008 and 2024, losing both times. The club has won three Supporters' Shield titles, in 2013, 2015 and 2018. They also twice reached the final of the U.S. Open Cup in 2003 and 2017, losing on both occasions, and once have reached the semi finals of the CONCACAF Champions League in 2018, losing to Guadalajara.
History
MetroStars era
The club's original name was Empire Soccer Club, which gave birth to the name of the team's largest supporters' group, Empire Supporters Club. The team's original owners were John Kluge and Stuart Subotnick. The name MetroStars was chosen in reference to Metromedia, the media company founded by Kluge, after Nike's original suggestion "MetroFlash" was rejected. The owners also considered but rejected buying the rights to the name "Cosmos".Tab Ramos, the first player to sign with MLS, became the first MetroStars player, and was soon joined by 1994 FIFA World Cup teammate Tony Meola and A.C. Milan star midfielder Roberto Donadoni. 1990 World Cup player Peter Vermes was named the first team captain, but it was the previously unknown Venezuelan Giovanni Savarese who became the Metros' first breakthrough star. The team's first coach was Eddie Firmani of New York Cosmos fame.
In 1996, the MetroStars made news when they selected players named Juninho and Túlio in the 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft. This report set off an immediately positive reaction which was quickly crushed after the MetroStars revealed that they had not actually drafted well-known Brazilian players Juninho Paulista and Túlio Costa, as people had assumed. The MetroStars waived both draftees on March 25, 1996. While the identity of "Juninho" was later discovered, the true name and club history of "Tulio" remains unknown. This bizarre episode has entered MetroStars folk lore.
When the league began play in 1996, it was expected that the MetroStars would quickly become the league's dominant team. This expectation never materialized. Despite famous players and a high-profile coach, the team never seemed to click together. The team's first home game against the New England Revolution proved to be a harbinger of things to come. Former Juventus defender Nicola Caricola inadvertently flipped a cross into his own net in the dying minutes to hand New England a 1–0 win in front of 46,000 fans.
The resulting play would later be dubbed the "Curse of Caricola" by fans to explain the team's inability to come through with a domestic trophy in their history. Firmani left after eight games and was replaced by former Portugal coach Carlos Queiróz, who did no better than even the rest of the season. The team made it into the playoffs, only to lose to eventual champions D.C. United.
Starting in 1998, the team stopped referring to itself as New York/New Jersey, but it took a few years for the media and fans to catch up. The team went by just MetroStars, with no city, state or regional geographic name attached to it, a rarity in American sports.
The MetroStars bottomed out in 1999 with a record of 7–25 under former U.S. national team coach Bora Milutinović, the worst record in MLS history. Hoping to light a spark under the floundering club in 2000, the MetroStars dropped a bombshell by acquiring German international player Lothar Matthäus from Bayern Munich. Matthäus played in only 16 MLS games during the season and his tenure in the U.S. is considered a disappointment. The team did, however, leap from dead last to the conference title.
On August 26, 2000, the MetroStars' Clint Mathis set an MLS record by scoring five goals in a game against the Dallas Burn.
In 2003 the club hired new manager Bob Bradley, a New Jersey native known for winning multiple titles as an assistant with D.C. United and head coach with the Chicago Fire. Bradley led the team to the U.S. Open Cup final and a playoff berth in his first season. In 2004 the MetroStars became the first MLS team to win a trophy outside of North American soil with a victory in the La Manga Cup. The MetroStars defeated Ukraine's Dynamo Kyiv 3–2 in the semi-finals before edging Norway's Viking FK 1–0 in the final.
Bradley was fired during the 2005 season and assistant Mo Johnston was named interim head coach, guiding the team to seven points in its last three games; the MetroStars made it to the playoffs, but yet another season ended in disappointment when they were knocked out of the playoffs with a 3–2 loss to the New England Revolution.
Red Bull takeover (2006–2009)
On March 9, 2006, it was announced that Austrian energy drink conglomerate Red Bull GmbH had purchased the club, and as part of their sponsorship, they would also completely re-brand the franchise, changing the name, colors, and logo, a move which drew mixed reactions. The club name was changed to "Red Bull New York", with the team now referred to as the "New York Red Bulls" by the league and the media.Red Bull had originally approached MLS about creating an expansion club in New York City proper, but concerns over the cost of buying out the MetroStars' territorial rights to the region, along with the expected difficulty in securing a stadium site in the city, led the company to purchase the MetroStars instead and take over their existing stadium project in Harrison, New Jersey. The territorial rights to a second New York area franchise reverted to MLS as part of the sale.
The decision to purchase an MLS team coming from a company like Red Bull was a significant boost to the brand's reputation and publicity. Red Bull is currently known very well in the sports world due to their very successful Formula 1 team, Oracle Red Bull Racing. Just before Red Bull's takeover of the MetroStars in 2006, Red Bull purchased the Jaguar Racing F1 Team in 2005. This time was a very significant boost in brand awareness and marketing for the Red Bull brand, and their strategy has turned out to have a very large impact on the brand. Before its expansion to larger scale audience sports in the mid 2000's like soccer and Formula 1, Red Bull was heavily involved with very niche and extreme style sporting events in the 1990's; BMX, motocross, and skiing are some examples.
During the 2006 season, Red Bull fired Johnston and hired Bruce Arena, a Brooklyn native who had recently left the head coaching role with the United States national team. The team soon after signed national team captain Claudio Reyna as a designated player along with Colombian star Juan Pablo Angel, while teenage striker Jozy Altidore emerged as one of the league's brightest young talents. That summer the Red Bulls defeated German club Bayern Munich 4–2 in a friendly at Giants Stadium and lost a friendly against Barcelona 4–1 in front of a sold-out crowd in East Rutherford. On August 18, 2007, the Red Bulls hosted the LA Galaxy for the league debut of David Beckham, drawing 66,238 fans. Arena guided the Red Bulls to the 2007 MLS playoffs, but they were eliminated in the first round by the New England Revolution. Two days later, on November 5, 2007, Arena resigned as coach of the Red Bulls. Red Bull then acquired Colombian coach Juan Carlos Osorio from Chicago Fire during the off-season.
In 2008, Altidore was sold to Spanish club Villarreal for a U.S. record transfer fee while Reyna retired due to chronic injuries in July. Over 47,000 tickets were sold to July 19 game versus the Los Angeles Galaxy, which was the team's and league's season record attendance. The game ended in a 2–2 draw with goals from Dave van den Bergh and Juan Pablo Ángel.
The Red Bulls again played Spanish powerhouse Barcelona in a friendly match on August 6 before about 40,000 fans. They lost 6–2, with their goals scored by Jorge Rojas and Seth Stammler. On August 11, the Red Bulls defeated rival D.C. United in a 4–1 win, keeping the Red Bulls in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race, though United did maintain the Atlantic Cup for another year. Though they were the last team to qualify for the playoffs in the 2008 season, the Red Bulls made an impressive run, defeating two-time defending champions Houston Dynamo 4–1 on aggregate. The next week, they played Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference final at Rio Tinto Stadium in Utah. Dave van den Bergh put the Red Bulls ahead. This win put the Red Bulls into the 2008 MLS Cup final against MLS Supporters' Shield winners, the Columbus Crew. The Red Bulls lost 3–1, with their lone goal coming from John Wolyniec.
The New York Red Bulls started the 2009 season against Seattle Sounders FC at Qwest Field in Seattle. The hosts, playing in their first MLS match, won 3–0. As MLS Cup runners-up, the team also qualified for the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League. The New York Red Bulls took part in the tournament's second edition, starting in the qualifying round against Trinidad and Tobago side W Connection. The club drew 2–2 away to W Connection but lost 2–1 at home and were eliminated without reaching the group stage.
The club's 2009 season was highly disappointing. They went on a 16-game winless streak which lasted from May 8 to August 23. They also endured a 23-game winless streak on the road which dated back to May 10, 2008, in a 2–1 win over the LA Galaxy, in which they finished the season at 0–17–3 on the road. After the preliminary exit from the Champions League, many fans were disappointed by Osorio's rigid tactical style, while others wanted then-Sporting Director Jeff Agoos fired. On August 21, 2009, Osorio resigned from his position. Assistant Richie Williams again took over as the club's interim coach. In his second stint as interim coach, Williams led the Red Bulls to a 3–2–3 record despite finishing with a league-worst record of 5–6–19.