“Why Ajax’s IPO Divided Opinions and Its Impact on the Club’s Success: Insights from Jeroen Slop and Frank van der Wall Bak”

Jeroen Slop, former financial director of Ajax, remembers well that he had to contradict Johan Cruijff in the times of the IPO. “He always said: a bag of money cannot play football,” Slop tells Algemeen Dagblad about his conversations with Cruijff. “But a bag of money does make things possible that would otherwise not have been possible, I always said. For example, I don’t know if Ajax would have been where it is now, without that stock exchange.”

When things go badly with the club, Slop often hears negative comments from the fans about the IPO. But he really wants to make a point about that. “If things don’t go well, then the noises will come again that the IPO is good for nothing. Then the shouting starts again, often unfounded. If it goes well, you won’t hear them.”

Sports marketer Frank van der Wall Bak sees it differently. He thinks that a stock exchange exit would earn Ajax a lot of compliments. “That IPO somehow affects the experience of the sport. If credibility decreases, it could cost you fans. A stock exchange exit would earn the club applause.”