The soccer leagues in European countries are organized very differently than anything we have in the United States. Their performance is measured every season, and those teams that do well (in the lower divisions) have a chance to replace teams doing poorly in the next division. However, like major league baseball, there is little if any revenue sharing, so some teams play in rundown, 1,500 seat parks while the better teams have larger, state-of-the-art fields. Ajax Amsterdam plays in the biggest park in the country.
Ajax is one of the top soccer teams in The Netherlands. As I write this, they lead the Dutch EreDivisie by four points, and they always seem to finish their seasons within the top handful of teams. As one of the big teams, Ajax draw well. The Arena therefore holds over 51,000 people, and the team sells out just about every game.
Where many other parks in the country look somewhat like warehouses or like high school fields, the ArenA feels very much like a US football stadium (and to boot, the NFL Europe Amsterdam Admirals play here as well). The stadium is one of the few two-tiered parks in the country, and one of two retractable roof parks. The upper walkways are also like the fields here. They are pretty wide and have food concessions stands all along the walk.
When the seats are empty, the place is very colorful. The seat backs come in a multitude of colors, forming a triangular rainbow of sorts. The sight lines are okay. My seat was in the last row (around mid-field) and while everything was far away, I could still see the whole field. The scoreboards, as are many of the scoreboards in Europe, leave much to be desired. They tell spectators of the current lineup and show the game in action (as well as replays), but they don't give you much other information.
Down on the ground floor is the Ajax museum and team shop. Being one of the famed teams in Europe, Ajax has quite a bit to show off. Hours for the museum change depending on if there's a game or not.
Getting to the Arena is fairly easy. The Amsterdam Metro stops in close proximity to the stadium. Also nearby is the national train hub of Duivendrect, where north-south and east-west trains serving the country all stop. So traveling near or far, there are a few options. There is also parking in the area for those with a car.
Unlike any of the other teams I have dealt with in the country, Ajax has their own travel department. They offer packages to see games that include city tranist passes, canal tours, Ajax museum tours, game tickets, and hotel accommodations. Other options can be added as well. The packages are a little pricey, but it's easy going where other teams don't do much for foreign travelers.