MVV Maastricht has announced that it will continue exclusive negotiations with the Maastricht Collective about the future of the 122-year-old football club. After a careful evaluation process led by consultancy firm Hypercube, the parties involved, including Stichting MVV Maastricht 2018, Vereniging MVV Maastricht, and the Supervisory Board, have made a decision on two offers.
The first bid came from American shareholder DSH and the second from the Maastricht Collective, a group of local entrepreneurs. Although both offers were broadly comparable on a substantive basis, MVV chose to continue with the Maastricht Collective due to the large local support and the plans presented.
The Collective has shown the intention to respect the interests of MVV, including the position of Dutch Soccer Holdings, which owns 24 of the 100 shares. This choice is seen as an important step for MVV to return to its roots in Maastricht.
The collaboration with the Maastricht Collective also represents a challenge for the club, as a lot of work needs to be done to achieve the resurrection of MVV. The coming weeks will be used to record agreements in a Letter of Intent, involving many parties, including the KNVB and the Municipality of Maastricht.
In the meantime, the Maastricht Collective ensures financial stability by bridging liquidity shortages. A notary will be supervised to ensure that the process runs carefully and to guarantee the privacy of the capital providers. These developments represent a crucial milestone in the future of MVV Maastricht.
Commerce
MVV Maastricht has the lowest income of all professional football organizations in the Netherlands. General manager Laura van Leeuwen, who has been at the helm since the summer of 2023, prefers to focus on a healthy future for the club instead of looking back on the past. MVV’s challenge lies mainly in increasing revenues, because further cuts are almost impossible.
The desired financial growth can be achieved in the field of catering, merchandise, ticket sales and sponsorship. “With the appointment of Daan Konings, Tijn Gorissen and Mick Beckers, we have three driven and enthusiastic employees who are responsible for the commercial side.”
MVV strives for transparency in its collaboration with partners and focuses on keeping agreements. Sales Manager Mick Beckers emphasizes that the club only makes promises that are feasible. This ensures trust and involvement of the partners.
Club love
Laura adds: “The club love in the city and region is great, even after 23 years of football in the First Division. That the club still lives like this is evident from the fact that every home match around 4,500 spectators find their way to Stadion de Geusselt. That provides a boost every time.”
MVV’s ambition is a financially stable future, so that the focus can be on football again. There is still a lot of work to do, but the team is determined to take the club forward.
