Eredivisie

Eredivisie

Millions of people in the Netherlands enjoy Eredivisie football and the 18 professional football clubs competing in this competition play a very important role in society. Football connects and can make a difference for so many people, both on and off the pitch.

Since 2004, when the More than Football Foundation was formed, the Eredivisie is using the power of football to engage and empower lots of people in the Netherlands. In the first ten years, the Eredivisie played a crucial role in setting up a lot of national CSR programs and partnerships. During this period, when the More Than Football foundation played a crucial role in the development of CSR in football, the professional football clubs in the Netherlands set up their own CSR department, employed a CSR manager, developed their own programs with regional partnerships. The CSR responsibilities shifted from national to regional, to the clubs, where the real power of football is located with professional football players as ambassadors, a stadium and so on.

Nowadays, the Eredivisie supports the 18 clubs to further professionalize and expand the regional power of football. The Eredivisie collaborates structurally with CSR partner De Vriendenloterij, broadcaster ESPN, the Dutch national government and lots of other (inter) national, regional and local organisations to strengthen the CSR policy of the clubs.

Three key objectives underline this strategy:

• Research and knowledge: e.g. platform sessions with the CSR managers of the clubs, organising seminars and webinars, measuring the impact of CSR projects, foundations and clubs.
• Public relations and public affairs: e.g. lobbying, awareness campaigns, producing video’s about the power of football.
• League projects: e.g. tobacco free stadiums, approach against racism & discrimination and more.