German “Day of Handball” aims to break spectator world record

“To bring all facets of the sport of handball into the spotlight” is the mission statement of the “Day of Handball”, which we will be organised on 6 September in the Frankfurt football arena.

It is the clear aim of the organisers to attract a new world record audience for handball matches, which currently stands at 36,651 fans at the Danish league final 2011 in the Bröndby football arena.

Nearly 30,000 tickets have already been sold for the opener of the season 2014/15: the expectations are high to have 50,000 spectators in the arena. The current “German record” in terms of audience dates from 2004, when 30,295 fans saw the Bundesliga duel of TBV Lemgo and THW Kiel in the Schalke football arena.

Highlight of the event is the Bundesliga match of 2013 EHF Cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen and 2013 VELUX EHF Champions League winners HSV Hamburg. The supporting programme consists of a wide range of handball activities including a younger age category tournament with 80 boys’ and girls’ teams, info booths, autograph signature options with stars of handball and a friendly match of handball legends like Daniel Stephan, Joel Abati, Olafur Stefansson, Henning Fritz, Christian Schwarzer, Jackson Richardson, Oliver Roggisch, Johnny Jensen, Marcus Ahlm and Glen Solberg, organised by Stefan Kretzschmar and TV commentator Frank Buschmann.

“In Germany, handball still has enough room for improvement, therefore it is important to stand together with all stakeholders to promote handball by this very special event, reaching out for new target groups, mainly families,” said Thorsten Storm, manager of Rhein-Neckar Löwen, one of the organisers and main initiator of the event.

“This event shows the solidarity of professional handball mass participation sports. The focus is not on the league, but on handball in general,” said Reiner Witte, President of the German Handball League, and Frank Bohmann, director of HBL, added: “We have to grab this chance to organise the “Day of Handball” with enthusiasm. This event is a step in the right direction.”

“This event is a lighthouse project for the future of German handball,” is the opinion of Bernhard Bauer, President of the German Handball Federation.

All handball fans lucky to grab a ticket for the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in Cologne (31 May/1 June) will be able to gather more information on the “Day of Handball”.

The organisers will be present with a promotion stand in the LANXESS arena and the “Day of Handball” road show will arrive on Friday (30 May) for the Opening Party in front of the venue. Inside the arena fans will not only see the TV trailer for the event, but also can win VIP tickets from the VELUX EHF FINAL4 Fan-TV moderators during the weekend.

Additional information and a ticket shop on the official event website (in German language only).