Red Bull spent £1.3bn on athletes like Stokes, Verstappen and Neymar in 2025
Red Bull spent £1.3bn on athletes like Ben Stokes marketing its energy drinks last year as the firm reported a jump in sponsorship costs.
Red Bull GmbH, the Austrian conglomerate behind the wing-giving libation, saw its net income rise by 12 per cent in 2025 to over £1.6bn, according to an annual report filed with the Austrian corporate registry and reported in Bloomberg.
Sponsorship costs rose 22 per cent at the caffeinated beverage brand, which counts the likes of former England Test cricket captain Ben Stokes and pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis among its athlete stable.
Payments to athletes and teams accounted for 48 per cent of Red Bull’s entire marketing costs with traditional ads and other marketing streams making up the other 52 per cent.
Red Bull growth
Red Bull’s most prominent presence in sport is its Formula 1 team but it is also a major backer of extreme sports more widely and has involvement across a multi-club football operation which involves the likes of Premier League side Leeds United, French team Paris FC and a stable of energy drink branded sides in Leipzig, Salzburg and New York.
The group last year completed a takeover of Prem Rugby side Newcastle Red Bulls, while they’re also continuing to operate in ice hockey and cycling.
Red Bull’s financial filings show sales in the US led the charge but the organisation is at the centre of an antitrust probe in Europe which was launched in 2025.
Names from across sport are part of the wider umbrella, with Stokes and Duplantis joined by footballers Neymar Jr and Trent Alexander-Arnold and the likes of skier Eileen Gu and cyclists Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock.
Earlier this month the organisation’s latest stunt saw Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen race and overtake 100 karters at a promotional event at Silverstone race track.