A clear goal beyond the pitch

Léon was born and raised in Rotterdam, so it was always his intention to spread his wings and study elsewhere. When it was time to make a choice, he realised that what really interested him was economics. He sought to capitalise on the strong foundation in math and economics he had built in high school by applying those subjects to business economics. In particular, he wanted to gain insight into the economics of ports and the maritime sector. ‘Obviously, there is no better place to study these topics than Rotterdam. I opted for a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Economics with a minor in Port Management and Maritime Logistics. For my major I chose Urban, Port and Transport Economics.  

In hindsight, it is interesting to see that whenever I had a choice, I always opted for a topic in sports or entertainment. I like the business of fun! In high school, I secured an assignment at the Luxor theatre in Rotterdam, which involved analysing how revenues could be increased and costs cut. Another example is my bachelor’s thesis, which dealt with the societal value of subsidised public events.’ 

Seeing Rotterdam from a different side 

‘Although I continued to live in the same city, I learned to see it in an entirely different way through the experience of student life and by joining student society Laurentius. Taking a break from my studies to serve on its board for a year taught me invaluable skills such as managing the relationship of your organisation with internal and external stakeholders. This may sound serious, but it was a lot of fun. I was also actively involved in the Economic Faculty Association (EFR) and worked as a teaching assistant in marketing. Participating in extracurricular activities gives students a unique opportunity to learn by doing while having a great time.’  

In 2017 when Léon was about to finish his bachelor's degree, he heard of the launch of a new master’s programme on Data Science & Marketing Analytics. The subject sounded so appealing that he decided to apply. It meant waiting a year because the first cohort would not start until September 2018. This gave him the opportunity to go to the United Kingdom where he worked in Cambridge at a Technology and Innovation Consultancy that specialised in product innovation for companies in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector.  

‘Every day I use the skills and experience gained during my study time’ 

The road to Feyenoord 

Upon his return to Rotterdam a friend invited Léon to accompany him to the Big Data Expo where he was invited to speak about marketing & data applied to Feyenoord. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Léon came along and saw that the talk drew a huge audience. ‘The brand Feyenoord has a wide appeal, this results in extensive media coverage, but only very rarely do you find a publication on the business side of the organisation. Afterwards, over a cup of coffee, we concluded that Feyenoord would be an interesting case study for future research. As it happened, part of our master’s programme involved a seminar where we would be working with case studies. Together we came up with the idea to see if the master students could team up with my friend’s company Sports Alliance to work on Feyenoord data. Professor Bas Donkers who oversaw this block, was happy to add the club to the list of companies to be analysed. There was a competition with five groups of four and ours won. Afterwards, I was offered the chance to do more research at Feyenoord so I could write my master’s thesis about football club member clustering and season ticket purchase prediction. I had a great time. During the day I would be coding, but I also took advantage of the opportunity to discover more about the club by volunteering to help with activities for the fans such as the annual open day. Feyenoord has an important role in the community, which it takes very seriously.  

Léon stayed in touch with Feyenoord, but immediately after his graduation there was no suitable vacancy. He went to work elsewhere, but when it emerged that Feyenoord was looking for a fanbase marketeer focusing on sales of memberships, Léon started a new job in an office adjacent to Feyenoord’s stadium De Kuip.  

Feyenoord as a business 

Feyenoord is unique in many ways. It has the reach of a multinational without the employee numbers. Léon explains that fans expect the club to deliver an optimal experience, while the organisation also has to manage a wide palette of revenue streams ranging from commercial partnerships to selling (season) tickets and managing an extensive range of activities for members. ‘Feyenoord employs athletes and the staff around them, but also press officers, content producers, lawyers, financial controllers, marketeers, caterers, social workers, data analysts, groundsmen and many more. On top of strategic planning, budgeting, and marketing, we deal with additional dimensions other companies may not have.To learn more about these, I participated in a part-time course organised by Dutch football association KNVB. This offered me a chance to obtain insights into the sports industry and professional football in particular. We attended regular classes, for instance about the way a club can fulfil different roles in society.  These may sometimes seem at odds with each other such as their social function and the business side. There were also field trips to clubs to learn about talent development for example. It is great to meet employees of other clubs, especially since everybody is incredibly open and eager to learn from each other. 

‘Participating in extracurricular activities gives students a unique opportunity to learn by doing while having a great time’

My current title is Program Manager, and in this role, I oversee various projects. The Feyenoord board determines the strategic initiatives I will be working on, but for someone with the Rotterdam mentality of rolling up the proverbial sleeves, there is a lot of room to do something extra. In March 2023, when it became clear that there was a good chance Feyenoord was going to win the league, a team was formed to plan for the celebrations. Such an occasion affects the entire organisation, every department pitches in enthusiastically to help with the preparations. I offered to facilitate the process and keep everyone on the same page. As a result, I was asked to chair. Together with the core team we oversaw the process of organising the party and the decorations in the stadium, liaised with the council and the police, and managed to get permission to transport the players in an open-top bus. Accompanying the team to the town hall was an incredible experience.’  

Toolkit 

‘My experience at Erasmus School of Economics and Laurentius, has given me an invaluable toolkit. Every day I use the skills and experience gained during my study time. Embracing the chance to leave my comfort zone and acquire new skills was something I learned when I started coding for my thesis project. That experience has given me the confidence to cherish that same attitude in my job. 

At university, there are many career events, but you must determine for yourself what type of role you would like to do. When I graduated, I knew I wanted three things in my job: networking (internally and externally), organising and overseeing different types of projects, and solving issues, including implementation of solutions. That is exactly what I am doing right now. I enjoy developing projects with people from different departments and being involved in the implementation subsequently. When we are ready, I hand over to the relevant department and go on to my next task. This versatility is what makes me tick.’