Case Study: Johan Cruijff ArenA achieves 20%+ pitch-quality improvement with Microsoft Power BI

Innovation secures on-field advantage for football teams at Johan Cruijff ArenA

Johan Cruijff ArenA, the Netherlands’ largest stadium and home of AFC Ajax, needed to maintain world‑class pitch quality despite challenging Dutch weather and shade from its retractable roof while also cutting costs, boosting revenue and meeting sustainability goals. The ArenA worked with Microsoft Power BI as part of a broader Microsoft solution (including Azure, Azure Data Lake, IoT and Microsoft 365) to build a data‑driven platform that would monitor the pitch and support smarter operational decisions.

Microsoft Power BI visualized sensor data captured in Azure so grounds teams could track moisture, light, biomass and other grass metrics, forecast event impacts and prescribe exact maintenance, lighting and fertiliser needs. The Microsoft Power BI–enabled solution increased pitch quality by more than 20%, supported the ArenA’s revenue and cost targets, helped maintain zero CO2 emissions, and shifted decisions from subjective judgment to objective, data‑backed actions while paving the way for future AI and machine‑learning enhancements.

Johan Cruijff ArenA

Henk van Raan

Chief Innovation Officer