The Eredivisie ("Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is considered one of the best European leagues and widely regarded as one of the better leagues in the world. As of the 2024–25 season, it is ranked the 6th best league in Europe by UEFA.
The Eredivisie consists of 18 clubs. Each club meets every other club twice during the season, once at home and once away. At the end of each season, the two clubs at the bottom are automatically relegated to the second level of the Dutch league system, the Eerste Divisie (First Division), while the champion and runner-up of the Eerste Divisie are automatically promoted to the Eredivisie. The club finishing third from the bottom of the bottom of the Eredivisie goes to separate promotion/relegation play-offs with eight high-placed clubs from the Eerste Divisie.
The winner of the Eredivisie claims the Dutch national championship. Ajax has won the most titles, with 35 national titles. PSV Eindhoven are next with 24, and Feyenoord follow with 15. Since 1965, these three clubs have won all but three Eredivisie titles (the 1981 and 2009 titles went to AZ and FC Twente won the 2010 title). Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord are known as the "Big Three" or "Traditional Top Three" of Dutch football. They are the only clubs in their current forms to have never been relegated out of the Eredivisie since its formation. A fourth club, FC Utrecht, is the product of a 1970 merger between three of that city's clubs, one of which, VV DOS, had also never been relegated out of the Eredivisie.
From 1990 to 1999, the official name of the league was PTT Telecompetitie (after the sponsor, PTT Telecom), which was changed to KPN Telecompetitie (because PTT Telecom changed its name to KPN Telecom in 1999) and to KPN Eredivisie in 2000. From 2002 to 2005, the league was called the Holland Casino Eredivisie. Since the 2005–06 season, the league has been sponsored by the Sponsorloterij (lottery), but for legal reasons its name could not be attached to the league (the Dutch government was against the name, because the Eredivisie would, after Holland Casino's sponsorship, yet again be sponsored by a company providing games of chance). On 8 August 2012 it was made public that tycoon Rupert Murdoch had secured the rights to the Eredivisie for 12 years at the expense of 1 billion euros, beginning in the 2013–14 season. Within this deal the five largest Eredivisie clubs should receive 5 million euros per year for the duration of the contract. In 2020, the Eredivisie was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clubs[]
2023-24 season teams[]
| Club | Location | Stadium |
|---|---|---|
| Ajax | Amsterdam | Johan Cruyff Arena |
| Almere City | Almere | Yanmar Stadion |
| AZ | Alkmaar | AFAS Stadion |
| Excelsior | Rotterdam | Van Donge & De Roo Stadion |
| Feyenoord | Rotterdam | De Kuip |
| Fortuna Sittard | Sittard | Fortuna Sittard Stadion |
| Go Ahead Eagles | Deventer | De Adelaarshorst |
| SC Heerenveen | Heerenveen | Abe Lenstra Stadion |
| Heracles Almelo | Almelo | Erve Asito |
| N.E.C. | Nijmegen | Goffertstadion |
| PEC Zwolle | Zwolle | MAC³PARK Stadion |
| PSV | Eindhoven | Philips Stadion |
| RKC Waalwijk | Waalwijk | Mandemakers Stadion |
| Sparta Rotterdam | Rotterdam | Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel |
| FC Twente | Enschede | De Grolsch Veste |
| FC Utrecht | Utrecht | Stadion Galgenwaard |
| Vitesse | Arnhem | GelreDome |
| FC Volendam | Volendam | Kras Stadion |
Relegated teams[]
| Club | Location | Stadium |
|---|---|---|
| ADO Den Haag | The Hague | Cars Jeans Stadion |
| SC Cambuur | Leeuwarden | Cambuur Stadion |
| De Graafschap | Doetinchem | De Vijverberg |
| ASC De Volewijckers | Amsterdam | Sportpark Buiksloterbanne |
| FC Den Bosch | 's-Hertogenbosch | de Vliert |
| FC Dordrecht | Dordrecht | Stadion Krommedijk |
| AFC DWS | Amsterdam | Spieringhorn |
| FC Eindhoven | Eindhoven | Jan Louwers Stadion |
| FC Emmen | Emmen | De Oude Meerdijk |
| USV Elinkwijk | Utrecht | Unknown |
| SC Enschede | Enschede | Sportcampus Diekman |
| FC Groningen | Groningen | Euroborg |
| Helmond Sport | Helmond | SolarUnie Stadion |
| MVV Maastricht | Maastricht | De Geusselt |
| NAC Breda | Breda | Rat Verlegh Stadion |
| RBC Roosendaal | Roosendaal | Herstaco Stadion |
| Roda JC Kerkrade | Kerkrade | Parkstad Limburg Stadion |
| SV SVV | Schiedam | Stadion Harga |
| SC Telstar | Velsen | 711 Stadion |
| VVV-Venlo | Venlo | De Koel |
| Willem II | Tilburg | Koning Willem II Stadion |
| XerxesDZB | Rotterdam | Sportpark Faas Wilkes |
Broadcasters[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) |
|---|---|
| Netherlands | |
| Netherlands | ESPN, NPO 1 (NOS), NPO 3 (NOS) |
| Africa | |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | ESPN |
| Americas | |
| Caribbean Latin America Brazil |
ESPN |
| United States Puerto Rico |
ESPN+ |
| Suriname | ABC, ATV, SCCN |
| Asia-Pacific | |
| Central Asia | Setanta Sports |
| Indian subcontinent | Eurosport |
| Brunei Malaysia |
Astro SuperSport |
| China | K-Ball |
| Hong Kong | TVB |
| Indonesia | Mola |
| Iran | IRIB Varzesh,Perisiana Sports |
| Japan | Hulu |
| Philippines | Premier Football |
| Singapore | mio Sports |
| Vietnam | VieON |
| Europe | |
| Albania Kosovo |
SuperSport |
| Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Estonia Latvia Lithuania Moldova |
Setanta Sports |
| Austria Germany |
Sportdigital, DAZN |
| Belgium | Play Sports, VOO Sport World |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Montenegro North Macedonia Serbia Slovenia |
Sport Klub |
| Bulgaria | Max Sports |
| Czech Republic Slovakia |
Arena Sport |
| Cyprus | Cytavision Sports |
| Denmark | TV3 Sport |
| Finland Norway Sweden |
Viasat Sport |
| France | Canal+ |
| Georgia | Setanta Sports, Silk Sport |
| Greece | Nova Sports |
| Iceland | Viaplay |
| Italy San Marino |
DAZN |
| Liechtenstein Switzerland |
Sportdigital |
| Luxembourg | VOO Sport World, Sportdigital |
| Poland | Polsat Sport |
| Portugal | Sport TV |
| Romania | Sport Extra |
| Russia | Match TV, Futbol TV |
| Turkey | TV8.5 |
| Ukraine | Football 1 |
| United Kingdom Ireland |
Mola |
| Middle East and North Africa | |
| Middle East and North Africa | TBD |
| Israel | Sport 1 |