SUMMARY
With regard to the following summary a general reservation is made by referring to the more
detailed information, in particular the risk factors, and the financial information as included
elsewhere in this Prospectus.
Ajax
Ajax is the most successful Football Club of the Netherlands, and is one of the most successful
Football Clubs of Europe: Ajax won the Dutch championship twenty-seven times, the European
Cup (now the Champions League) four times, the European Cup Winners Cup and the UEFA Cup
both once and the World Cup for club teams twice. The football activities generated 74.8% of the
net turnover in the financial year 1996/1997.
Apart from its football activities, Ajax is also increasingly active in sponsoring and advertising,
exploitation of television rights and merchandising. These football-related activities are
exclusively carried out in support of the football activities.
Sponsoring and advertising, exploitation of television rights and merchandising contributed
15.4%, 5.8% and 4.0%, respectively to the net turnover in the same year.
Football
Ajax' football activities consist of the playing of professional football, the playing of amateur
football, the youth training programme, the scouting system, player management and the
supporters management.
Ajax' first team plays in the Dutch Premier Division and the national cup competition, and, with
the exception of the 1990/1991 season, has played in one of the European Cup competitions for
the past 32 years.
The first team plays its home matches in the ArenA, which has a capacity of more than 50,000
and in which through Stadion Amsterdam NV, Ajax has a stake of 13.1%.
The second team plays in the reserve teams competition and acts as springboard for young
talents to the top.
The youth training programme is the main pillar for Ajax' successes. The youth training
programme takes place at the modern sports park 'De Toekomst'. From this youth programme, an
average of five to seven players per year make it to the second team. An average of three second
team players are added to the selection of the first team every year, while Ajax in the end aims at
an average 1.5 players per year making it to the first team starting line-up.
As well as the youth training programme, the scouting system is of great importance to the
successes of Ajax. Ajax has an extensive network of scouts to do its scouting work. These scouts
assess young players according to the criteria which are also used in the youth training
programme: technique, intelligence, personality and speed (TIPS), and keep records of players for
the various field positions and of different age groups.
Sponsoring and advertising
Ajax currently has 14 sponsors, including a shirt sponsor (ABN AMRO) and a clothing sponsor
(Umbro). The contributions of these sponsors, together with the contribution of sub-sponsor
Canal+, form an important part of the net turnover from sponsoring and advertising.
Advertising income is generated from the advertising boards on and around the pitch, advertising
on the big screens in the ArenA and advertising in Ajax publications.
Television rights
An important part of the income from television rights comes from the contract which the KNVB
has closed with the NOS on behalf of the Football Clubs for the broadcasting of summaries of
matches from the Premier Division and First Division and the 'memorandum of understanding'
with Canal+ for live and integral broadcasts of matches from the Premier Division.
Merchandising
Ajax' merchandising activities consist of the granting of licences for the production and
distribution of sports articles and non-sporting articles, all with the Ajax name and logo, the
direct distribution to the enduser of non-sports articles with the Ajax name and logo and the
