Leaseweb has announced a new partnership with Dutch football club AZ Alkmaar, stepping in as the team’s official shirt sponsor beginning with the upcoming season. The agreement brings together two organizations that highlight a shared focus on technology, data, and community impact, while signaling Leaseweb’s intention to strengthen its visibility both in the Netherlands and internationally.
The sponsorship is framed as more than a branding exercise. Leaseweb, founded in 1997, operates a global infrastructure spanning 25 data centers across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. With more than 80,000 servers supporting cloud, hosting, and interconnection services, the company enables customers to run mission-critical workloads ranging from email and security to storage and large-scale web applications.
Leaseweb’s offerings emphasize scalability, resilience, and agility – qualities its leadership sees as directly comparable to the demands of professional football.
Leaseweb’s co-CEOs drew a parallel between the company’s technology-driven culture and the qualities necessary for competitive sports. Lex Boost described football and cloud computing as industries rooted in speed, reliability, teamwork, and passion. Svenja de Vos added that the alignment with AZ highlights shared values of agility and cooperation, which she noted are central to Leaseweb’s solutions for business customers worldwide.
Innovative Partnership
AZ, a club with a strong reputation for youth development, community ties, and international recognition, underscored the partnership as one that extends beyond financial backing. General Director Merijn Zeeman characterized Leaseweb not only as a sponsor but as an “innovative partner,” stressing the role technology can play in enhancing both sporting performance and business operations. He emphasized that the collaboration aims to build a future where sport and technology complement each other in tangible ways.
According to both organizations, the sponsorship will expand into broader initiatives during the contract term. Plans include exploring how cloud services can support AZ’s internal operations, launching joint community engagement programs, and nurturing talent in both digital and athletic fields.
By linking its brand to one of the Netherlands’ best-known football clubs, Leaseweb positions itself to strengthen recognition within its home market while underscoring its global footprint. For AZ, the agreement reflects not just a financial boost but also an opportunity to leverage technology partnerships in ways that align with the club’s long-term development goals.
