Beyond the 90 minutes: football, tourism and hospitality

Abstract

This study is the first in a series looking at professional sports franchises and their forays into the realms of hospitality, leisure and tourism. It focuses on the city of Leeuwarden in the north of The Netherlands and its professional football club, SC Cambuur, competing in the elite tier of Dutch football, the Eredivisie, during the 2022/23 season. Leeuwarden is becoming an increasingly recognised tourism destination, particularly since 2018 when it was the European Capital of Culture. Its football club operates on the fringes of the visitor economy, but in relocating to a newly built state-of-the-art stadium, it is keen to establish its tourism and hospitality credentials alongside the more traditional actors in the sector. Using content analysis, the article examines the current state of play across the Eredivisie and its professional clubs by providing an inventory of the leisure and hospitality operations offered. It also assesses whether the clubs and their stadia are considered for their tourism potential by destination-marketing organisations. It captures a moment in time that acts as a benchmark for SC Cambuur going forward and reveals an organisation that follows a tried-and-trusted template, replicated throughout professional football in The Netherlands, in exploiting its somewhat limited facilities for the purposes of hospitality and leisure. The Leeuwarden club’s operations are still relatively modest compared to many of its competitors, and it barely registers as a noteworthy partner for the tourism authorities. Despite significant challenges in recent times, the relocation to the new stadium, confirmed for 2024, leaves it well placed to expand its activities in the areas of hospitality and leisure.