Infront and EHF's commercial success a "driving force" for handball

Infront, the exclusive media and marketing partner of the European Handball Federation (EHF), has surpassed its marketing expectations for both the Men’s and Women’s EHF EURO 2024 by nearly 50 per cent, continuing to drive the sport through its commercial efforts.

The Women’s EHF EURO 2024 marks the first time the women’s tournament will feature 24 teams, following the successful expansion of the men’s event from 16 to 24 teams in 2020. The event includes a broad range of partners including Lidl, Engelbert Strauss, Gorenje, Grundfos, Point S and Admiral. MOL and Wurth are also included as sponsors of the women’s event for the first time.

The event, taking place across Switzerland, Austria and Hungary from 28 November to 15 December, will also enjoy broad exposure through broadcast agreements covering over 110 territories, up from 80 in 2022. This includes free-to-air coverage across host nations via SRG (Switzerland), ORF (Austria) and MTVA (Hungary) as well as significant reach in markets such as Norway, Spain, France, Denmark and many more.

The shift to free-to-air coverage in Norway, via a sublicensing deal from Viaplay to TV2 Norway, will enable broader fan engagement in one of the world’s leading handball nations.

In addition to its commercial and broadcast achievements, it is the first time an EHF EURO will be hosted under an enhanced, paid-subscription model on EHFTV, now powered by Infront Lab’s Stream Engine.

Julien Ternisien, Senior Vice President Summer and Winter Sports, Infront, said: “Our commercial efforts are a driving force for handball and the long-term partnership with EHF helps create opportunities to explore diverse revenue streams. The Women’s EHF EURO 2024 is a chance to showcase the sport as being truly inclusive with global appeal and offers more meaningful ways for the organisation and its partners to connect to fans.”

Martin Hausleitner, Secretary General of the EHF, said: “We’re entering this biggest-ever Women’s EHF EURO 2024 with an unprecedented level of support from both commercial partners and broadcasters. This reflects the unique position Infront has helped put handball in among European sports and the high standard of quality that fans have come to expect from our flagship event.”

The Women’s EHF EURO 2024 is the second national-team event for the EHF this year following the success of the men’s edition in January. That achieved a cumulative global audience of 1.2 billion across all stages of the competition, with a live audience of over 45 million during the main round. A total of 5.27 million tuned in to watch the final on France's TF1 as the country claimed its first title in 10 years, beating Denmark, whose TV2 broadcast reached nearly 1.7 million viewers. Hosts Germany also consistently drew a huge audience across the competition, with almost 9.7 million tuning in for its semi-final loss to Denmark.