Can you expand on this or point me towards where I can find more information? I used to enjoy watching the Dutch league years ago and always wondered why it wasn't more of a thing given that the nation is rich and produces so many first rate players.
There's a bunch of reasons for that I think. First of all, the professional football scene is overly crowded in the Netherlands. 34 pro clubs, some of which located extremely close to eachother with too little hinterland to support them. Secondly, the Netherlands is much smaller than countries surrounding us, so I guess from a pure economic perspective, it makes sense that fewer people to watch your league, the smaller your league will be. Thirdly, there is very little global interest in the Eredivisie. Maybe only the hardcore footy fan will sometimes watch, as we tend to produce good young players, but that is about it for foreign interest in our league. There are very serious talks about a Beneliga by the way, which may very well give the combined league a position as sixth in Europe.
By the way, I see a lot of love in this thread for Daley Blind. Very good to read. Blind is such a lovely guy, model pro, club icon for Ajax and he has been absolutely immense for us since returning. I think everybody here is aware of his physical condition, so I guess there is nothing we can do but hope it was a false alarm..