KNVB Expertise is a joint initiative of the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), Eredivisie CV (ECV), Coöperatie Eerste Divisie (CED), and the Federation of Professional Football Organizations (FBO). It serves as a knowledge center for Dutch professional football and is committed to further developing and professionalizing the sport.
To take the right steps toward professionalization, it is important to gain insight into the wishes, needs, and satisfaction of fans regarding topics such as their appreciation of the stadium atmosphere, catering, communication, safety, and the club’s social engagement. For this reason, KNVB Expertise commissions an annual fan survey, which we have been conducting since 2020. This survey maps out the match experience of all football fans in the Netherlands on an annual basis.
However, the 2020–2021 season is an exception due to the COVID-19 situation. The first survey, in which virtually all clubs participated, has therefore become a COVID-19 edition of the fan survey. To make the survey as valuable as possible for all participating football clubs, a combination of qualitative and quantitative research was chosen. The qualitative research served as a preliminary study. Eight exploratory interviews were conducted with supporters of clubs from both the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie to identify current trends and establish a starting point.
Based on these interviews, an online survey was developed in collaboration with KNVB Expertise and all Professional Football Organizations (PFOs) in the Netherlands, which the clubs distributed to their own fan bases. Between February 1, 2021, and March 28, 2021, a total of 42,956 fans participated in the survey. We developed an online dashboard for all clubs, allowing them to dive into the results at any time and create their own cross-tabulations and analyses. The dashboard includes a benchmark of all professional football clubs in the Netherlands and a benchmark per division, allowing the results to be effectively quantified.
“With the help of Markteffect, we were able to take the next step in providing feedback on the results of the fan survey. Thanks to the new dashboards, the professional football clubs have even better insight into the needs of their fans. The high-quality groundwork also ensured that we were able to conduct a valuable survey even during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Tijn Koolen, Junior Club Advisor, Professional Football
During this season, which has been played under strict measures to curb the pandemic, many matches have been held without spectators. It turns out that fans miss the atmosphere in the stadium the most, but that the excitement of the game is still palpable even while watching from home, and that most fans can still follow the action from their couches. Despite the fact that only a handful of matches were open to the public, a large majority indicate that they are likely or certain to renew their season tickets. The fans understand the situation and remain confident in their club. According to the majority of fans, the club is doing everything it can to keep them engaged.
“In recent years, we have all faced a great deal of uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because football clubs are heavily dependent on the support of their fans, this uncertainty was greater in football than in many other sectors. As a researcher and sports enthusiast, it is therefore special when you can alleviate this uncertainty based on research. We are therefore proud that, using these insights, we have provided KNVB Expertise with tools to advise the clubs during these difficult times.” - Krijn Vugts, Research Consultant at Markteffect
Starting in the 2021–2022 season, the fan survey will be set up as a monitoring tool so that developments can be tracked over time.
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