Some of the Red Bulls’ recent winning form appeared to rub off on the market yesterday as the team rang the closing bell for the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday afternoon. Red Bull New York Managing Director Erik Stover, players Juan Pablo Angel, Mike Petke and Seth Stammler and assistant coaches Goran Aral and Richie Williams helped close the day’s trading with the Standard & Poor’s 500 index up two points and the NYSE composite up 3.51 points.
“It was an experience,” said Angel, who was the designated “Gavel Banger” at the bell podium. “This is a historical building and being in the financial center of the world, literally, it’s incredible.”
The Red Bulls, who went on a tour of the trading floor prior to ringing the bell and spoke to many individuals there, didn’t know what to expect when they arrived and most were surprised by the relative calm of the New York Stock Exchange.
“I was expecting to walk in and people throwing things, screaming, you know, hand signs and just going nuts,” Petke, the “Bell Ringer”, said. “But with all the technology and the year we’re in it’s a lot more relaxed than I thought and people actually had a lot of time to talk to us about that they do, which was fantastic.”
Stover agreed, adding, “Every step we took, a trader stepped over and said, ‘We saw pictures of the new stadium,’ ‘I was at the first game,’ and that’s very impactful for us too see that what we’re doing is making an impact around this region.”
Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe was scheduled to attend, but could not due to his gallbladder procedure Monday. To watch the ceremony online, log onto http://www.nyse.com/events/1270028773861.html.
