Wikipedia
The Eredivisie (; "Honorary Division") is the highest echelon of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. At the end of the 2015–2016 season it was ranked the 13th best league in Europe by UEFA.
The top division consists of 18 clubs. Each club meets every other club twice during the season, once at home and once away. At the end of each season, the club at the bottom is automatically relegated to the second level of the Dutch league system, the Eerste Divisie (First Division). At the same time, the champion of the Eerste Divisie will be automatically promoted to the Eredivisie. The next two clubs from the bottom of the Eredivisie go to separate promotion/relegation play-offs. The play-offs are played in two groups. Each group has one Eredivisie club and three high-placed clubs from the Eerste Divisie. In both promotion/relegation play-off groups, each club plays a home-and-away series with the other clubs. The winner of each play-off group plays in the following season's Eredivisie, with the other teams going to the Eerste Divisie.
The winner of the Eredivisie claims the Dutch national championship. AFC Ajax has won most titles, 24 (33 national titles). PSV Eindhoven are next with 18 (23), and Feyenoord follow with 9 (14). Since 1965, these three clubs have won all except for three titles (the 1981 and 2009 titles went to AZ and FC Twente won the 2010 title).
From 1990 to 1999, the official name of the league was PTT Telecompetitie (after the sponsor, PTT Telecom), which was changed to KPN Telecompetitie (because PTT Telecom changed its name to KPN Telecom in 1999) and to KPN Eredivisie in 2000. From 2002 to 2005, the league was called the Holland Casino Eredivisie. Since the 2005–06 season, the league has been sponsored by the Sponsorloterij (lottery), but for legal reasons its name could not be attached to the league (the Dutch government was against the name, because the Eredivisie would, after Holland Casino's sponsorship, yet again be sponsored by a company providing games of chance). On 8 August 2012 it was made public that the American-based Australian tycoon Rupert Murdoch had secured the rights to the Eredivisie for 12 years at the expense of 1 billion euros, beginning in the 2013/2014 season. Within this deal the five largest Eredivisie clubs should receive 5 million euros per year for the duration of the contract.
Eredivisie, literally translated to English as Honorary Division, refers to the top level of competition in Netherlands in a number of sports, most commonly association football. Professional sport leagues that utilize the title include:
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Eredivisie, the men's association football league.
- Beloften Eredivisie, the men's association football reserve league
- Eredivisie (basketball), former name for men's basketball league, which is now known even in Dutch by the English-language name of Dutch Basketball League.
- Eredivisie (women), the women's association football league.
- Eredivisie (women's handball), the women's handball league.
- Eredivisie (men's handball), the men's handball league.
- Eredivisie (ice hockey), the men's ice hockey league.
The Eredivisie (Dutch for Honor Division) is a women's football league in the Netherlands. It was established in 2007 and then played for five seasons. After three seasons of a combined top level league with Belgium, the Eredivisie was restarted in the 2015–16 season.
The champion qualifies for a spot in the UEFA Women's Champions League.
The Nederlandse Handbal Eredivisie Dames, also known for sponsorship reasons as AFAB Eredivisie, is the highest category in the national league system for women's handball's clubs in the Netherlands. Swift Roermond is the competition's most successful team with nineteen titles, while SV Dalfsen is the defending champion.
The 2011-12 edition is being contested by VOC Amsterdam, SV Dalfsen, E&O HV, HV Fortissimo, Hellas Den Haag, HV Kwiek, Loreal Venlo, HV Nieuwegein, Van der Voort Quintus and Westfriesland SEW.
The Eredivisie ("Premier League") is the only professional ice hockey league in the Netherlands and the highest level of competition organized by the Nederlandse IJshockey Bond (NIJB; English: "Dutch Ice Hockey Federation"). Formed in 1945 and playing continuously since 1964, the league currently has six teams in the Netherlands and one in Belgium. The league features a mix of Dutch, Belgian, European and overseas players. The winner of the Eredivisie is crowned the Dutch National Champion and represents the Netherlands in the IIHF Continental Cup.