Last season we opened the main Benelux countries Belgium and Holland. The reason we did so is because we believe that both countries are talent hubs, with academies that are strong on development of players for the biggest leagues. Looking at the population in both countries, and the results both on club and national team level, we believe that both markets are punching above their weight.
If we look at the Netherlands, we have partnered with 8 clubs to make sure that we are covering all relevant leagues and teams from U13 and up. The structure in the Netherlands is quite interesting as they have a big step to take from U18 to U21. Not all players are ready, which means players could be searching for a step in between at U19 level. Adding a U19 step is talked about in the market, to minimize the gap (and by that, players “lost”), but so far it is not there. At the same time, the top academies in the market are developing players, historically, to the biggest clubs in the world. A club like AFC Ajax is currently the club with the most club trained players, playing in the professional game (86 players, according to CIES).
A look at a strategic very important league in our eyes U18 Divisie 1, then out of the 8 teams in the league, 3 of them are Eyeball partners, filming games every weekend. We see the same in the U16 leagues, and below.
In Belgium we have partnered with OH Leuven and Zulte Waregem, two clubs that are playing in all the right leagues from U15 and up. The ambition for us in Belgium has been to cover from U15 and up in the Elite division. Belgium is a market that has been serving the top 5 leagues with talent for multiple years. It is a country that on national team level are among the very best, on all positions and have had multiple candidates for the Ballon d’Or in recent years. All of this despite having a population below 12 million people. This comes down to quality work by the Belgium clubs. Talent is well prepared for the next step.