Beer makes Dutch club more money than players

According to a financial report released earlier this week, Twente generated a net profit of €5 million ($5.43 million) from catering, most of which came from selling beer, Daily Mail reported.

After excluding expenses for product procurement and employee costs, Twente made a profit of around €6 million.

Meanwhile, buying and selling players only brought Twente a profit of $4 million in the 2022-2023 season. The only player transactions they made were the trade of Jayden Oosterwolde to Parma for $3.6 million, and the releases of Jesse Bosch, Godfried Roemeratoe, Thijs van Leeuwen and Ennio van der Gouw.

The only new players Twente paid to sign were Michel Vlap and Michal Sadilek for a total fee of about $4 million. Other acquired players were free or loan transfers.

Journalist Tom Knipping of Voetbal International wrote: “It’s strange that Twente makes more money on beer than on players. I don’t see anywhere else in Europe where a club make this kind of profit.”

Twente’s home stadium De Grolsch Veste has a capacity of 24,000 seats and is sponsored by local beer maker Grolsch, a Dutch brewery that dates back to 1615.

In 2021, a Twente fan named Christiaan Roetgering became famous overnight by bringing 48 pints of beer to his seat.

“I always go to the game with a group of friends and each time one of us has the job of getting the beers in,” Roetgering told British newspaper The Sun. “This time it was my turn, and I didn’t fancy having to keep going back and forth to the bar. So, I decided to get everything in one visit.”

Twente were founded in 1965 based on the merging of two professional clubs, Sportclub Enschede and Enschedese Boys. Twente are headquartered in the city of Enschede, Overijssel Province in eastern of the Netherlands.

The club, nicknamed “The Tukkers,” won the top-tier Eredivisie league in 2010 and the Dutch Cup three times in 1977, 2001, 2011. They also reached the UEFA Cup finals in the 1974-1975 season, but they lost to Dortmund.

This season, Twente are fourth in Eredivisie with 27 points, 12 points behind league-leading squad PSV.