Luca Richman’s Instagram account highlights his Red Bulls fandom. Now he’s a mainstay in the community.
The New Jersey native began a YouTube channel in sixth grade, initially focusing on Minecraft gameplay before transitioning to Geometry Dash. Richman’s account now boasts over 90,000 subscribers, and managing it taught him how to stay consistent and build up knowledge in a space of interest.
That led to him starting The Red Bulls Experience Instagram account at 16 years old, which became his primary commitment. The account has over 3,700 followers and allows Richman to passionately share his Red Bulls fandom in an informative manner.
He’s always been a dedicated soccer supporter. He’s a fourth-generation fan in the New York area, and his family history dates back to the 1920s. Richman’s great-grandfather immigrated from Hungary and instantly supported New York soccer teams before passing down the avid fandom to his son and grandson.
“A lot of people latch on to new clubs that are coming out … the bulk of soccer fans in America are paying attention to Europe,” Richman said. “But it’s kind of in my blood to support my local team, and that’s been a through line from the teams back in New York around 100 years ago to now with the Red Bulls and MLS.”
The 23-year-old began the Instagram account in 2017, when he wanted to showcase what it was like to attend every match in person. He was a season-ticket holder every year growing up, and most other accounts posted highlights from their computers, he said.
Richman, a former media and communications major at NYU, started by posting simple match recaps and captions. But in the years since, he’s developed graphic designs, video content, and unique forms of on-site coverage, and is now a credentialed member at Red Bulls’ matches consistently.
“I feel like I learned what the algorithm liked, how to just create something engaging that follows the narrative of the club,” Richman said. “Whether it’s a big win, a record-breaking performance. I think last week against [Inter] Miami, we had the worst home loss in club history … I’m proud that I cover the highs and the lows equitably.”
Richman’s favorite player growing up was Thierry Henry, the Arsenal and Barcelona French international who won the 1998 World Cup signed with New York in 2010. Henry finished with 51 goals, 42 assists, and four MLS All-Star nods in five seasons.
“The way he carried the team on his back, and the way the fans really rallied around him, was incredible,” Richman said.
Richman, who was then in sixth grade and had taken a quarter-semester of French, met Henry at an autograph session. Richman said, ‘My name is Luca’ in French, and Henry replied, ‘How are you?’ in the same language. Richman froze, not understanding what Henry asked, leading to a humorous, awkward silence.
Richman had another fun experience with Ryan Meara, the Red Bulls’ long-time reserve goalkeeper who retired after last season.
Richman made a retirement graphic for the goalkeeper, who then commented on it and directly messaged him, asking if he could have the image.
Fans also recognize Richman around once per game now. He’s been a mainstay in the community, having only stopped posting once, in the summer of 2022.
He was an intern for the Red Bulls and paused the account to avoid a conflict of interest. Richman helped conceptualize student ticket pass plans, participated in sales meetings, and coordinated visuals for promotional campaigns.
One of the stand-out projects Richman worked on was designing a jersey for New York’s reserve team, he said. For futures night — a celebration of younger players in the academy — he helped design a woven pattern of the names of the kids. He said he still sees fans repping the jerseys at matches.
Richman has aspired to put his personality more on display as he develops the account. A long-term goal of his is to go on-camera more, something he admitted comes less naturally to him.
Richman’s largest advice to someone aspiring to be like him is to be consistent and find a niche. He said he likely wouldn’t have grown nearly the same connection with his community if he ran a general MLS-fan account. He also emphasized that ups and downs are inevitable.
“I just plug away at it and not over obsess about any single one post not performing well. It’s all about the collective of what you create,” Richman said. “The amount of posts that I spent hours on that have not performed as well as a thing I threw together in five minutes and posted — it’s all part of the journey.”
