Dutch Eredivisie side Ajax Amsterdam "failed to win the Dutch title this season, finishing second behind champions PSV, but the club wants to reestablish itself as Holland's number one team through the construction of Ajax City, a state of the art training complex," according to Samindra Kunti of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. At the same time "the Amsterdam Arena may seek a stadium naming rights deal." The Amsterdam Arena, inaugurated in '96, "is Holland's largest stadium with a capacity of 53,346 seats" and came at a cost of €140M. Arena's CEO Henk Markerink said that stadium naming rights may generate up to €4M ($4.5M). He said, "There are many stadiums in the world with a sponsor. This brings money. The money is usable for investment in property, such as the stadium which should be updated continuously." The limited partnership "Amsterdam Arena" owns the stadium with the city and "Stadion Amsterdam" as managing partners. The limited partnership "has eight sleeping partners, including Philips, Grolsch, KPN, ABN Amro and Coca Cola International." Ajax, which owns 13% of the Arena and has previously considered buying out a majority stake, "would benefit marginally from stadium naming rights." The club's plan to demolish its current training complex "De Toekomst" and replace it with a state-of-the-art "Ajax City" complex in order to match "La Masia" of FC Barcelona is also facing an uphill struggle (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 5/15).
