Since 7 November, the KPN eDivisie has been taking place, with Ajax, Heracles Almelo and PSV already booking their place in the Finals - receiving €2,500 each in the process. There are still positions available for the Finals, which will be played on March 30, 2024.
For those who do make it, in addition to the honour and the official KPN eDivisie trophy, the top players will battle for €50,000 in prize money and two highly coveted seats in the EA SPORTS FC™ Pro World Championships.
This is season VII for the eDivisie, with Vitesse coming into it as reigning champions, whilst Heracles Almelo and PEC Zwolle return to the KPN eDivisie and Almere City FC makes its debut in the league's football esports competition.
Eredivisie and the league’s clubs see the KPN eDivisie as an innovative platform that can help them reach young people and increase existing fans' commitment to their club.
Previous KPN eDivisie winners
Vitesse (2021/22, 2022/23)
Ajax (2016/17, 2017/18, 2020/21 Season 1)
PSV (2020/21 Season 2)
PEC Zwolle (2019/20 Season 1)
De Graafschap (2018/19)
*2019/20 Season 2 was cancelled due to a coronavirus breakout.
Who is taking part?
See below for the full list of teams and the players representing each of them in the 2023/24 eDivisie campaign:
Ajax Levi de Weerd, Paulo Henrique Chaves (PHzin), Finn Donderwinkel, Max Koelemaij
Almere City FC Merijn Eggens, Sep Terstall, Deni Scheffmann
AZ Dani Visser, Christiaan de Boer, Marc Groenland
Excelsior Rotterdam Luuk Wijdeveld, Milan Barin, Tygo Hartensveld
FC Twente Brent Weerink, Ata Kansu, Mika Muskee, Levy Frederique
FC Utrecht Tim Spaan, Abdi Hassan, Christiaan van der Mark
FC Volendam Luca Schilder, Leroy Miggels, Tobias de Boer
Feyenoord Talha Demirel, Julian van den Berg, Lars van Schanke
Fortuna Sittard Lev Vincken, Tjardo Paliama, Marwan Sewlal
Go Ahead Eagles Tygo van Splunteren, Bouwe Feenstra, Fabian Gottschalk
Heracles Almelo Milan Plevier, Collin Dekkers, Vince Eijkens
N.E.C. Nijmegen Mounir El Kahtaoui, Berat Çepe, Jens van den Akker
PEC Zwolle Giovanni Bakhuijsen, Tom Dijkies, Yonni Kan
PSV Manuel Bachoore, Emre Yilmaz, Ali Riza Aygün
RKC Waalwijk Dani Hagebeuk, Levi Arler, Jaap van Alphen
sc Heerenveen Dennis van Beek, Bram Goffin, Koen Visser
Sparta Rotterdam Thomas de Zeeuw, Damon de Best, Aimane Oualit
Vitesse Damian Sitaram, Milan Looper, Senne Woudt
Tournament format
The 18 teams involved - each associated with a club that is currently competing in the Eredivisie - take part in a Round Robin format league split into four periods. The team that tops the table in any of those four periods earns a place in the Finals on March 30 2024 and receives €2,500.
The top three clubs outside of the period winners also progress to the Finals, with the next eight best teams advancing to the Playoffs. Only one team will reach the Finals through the Playoffs.
There is a single elimination format for the eight clubs in the Finals. For the victorious team, there is the official KPN eDivisie trophy, €50,000 in prize money, plus places in the World Championships and eChampions League.
For the losing finalists, there is still eChampions League qualification on offer.
The story so far
It was an agonisingly close race between Ajax and PSV for top spot in the first period. Levi de Weerd and PHzin ensured that the Amsterdammers eventually became the first team to book their place at the Finals. Both clubs finished with a perfect record of five wins from five, but Ajax’s goal difference was one better than that of the club from Eindhoven.
Heracles Almelo had finished eighth in the first period but came top in the second, securing their own place in the Finals. Milan Plevier, Collin Dekkers and Vince Eijkens took their team to four wins from four, making Heracles the second club to edge out PSV on goal difference for a period win.
PSV made the high-profile signings of Manu Bachoore and Emre Yilmaz ahead of the season, and despite losing their perfect record in the third period, that paid off with 10 points from four matches securing top spot and a place in the Finals. They met AZ in the final match with only a win enough to take PSV above them, and Manu Bachoore drew 1-1 with Dani Visser before Emre Yilmaz beat Christiaan de Boer 7-2.
Third-placed AZ and fourth-placed Feyenoord are the highest-ranked teams in the overall table who haven’t already earned their place in the Finals. In addition to AZ and the already-qualified Ajax, Go Ahead Eagles and Fortuna Sittard finished one point behind PSV in the third period, so could hope to take top spot in the fourth.
Vitesse have won the previous two KPN eDivisie titles but are 12th in the overall standings and their highest finish in a period so far is ninth in the third period.
How to watch
KPN eDivisie matches are broadcast live each week from 17:30 to 20:30 on ESPN 3 and streamed via the KPN eDivisie's YouTube and Twitch channels.
A summary programme of all matches can be seen a day later on ESPN, KPN's Channel 41 (window channel) and YouTube.
A weekly recap of each round of play will follow on Friday during ALLsportsradio's radio broadcast.
