The Women’s EHF EURO 2024 in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland has reached its ultimate stage, with the final between Norway and Denmark being played on Sunday at 18:00 CET at the Stadthalle in Vienna.

While the European champions are yet to be crowned, the first figures from digital platforms and TV audience numbers underline a worldwide appeal of the tournament even before its final stage.

On digital, the EHF EURO 2024 has produced the most successful Instagram reel in the sport’s history on the EHF’s own channel. A goal by the Norwegian left wing Camilla Herrem in her team’s main round match against the Netherlands has been viewed more than 32 million times.

Until the end of the main round on Wednesday, the federation’s social media channels acquired almost 80,000 new fans and three million interactions. Looking at monitored channels from the EHF, teams, players and selected broadcast partners, the digital reach stood at 220 million – already more than at the Women’s EHF EURO 2022 – underscoring the growing digital footprint and fanbase of the sport.   

High ratings in Denmark and Norway

Infront, the exclusive media and marketing partner of the European Handball Federation (EHF), successfully secured broadcast agreements covering over 110 territories, up from 80 at the Women’s EHF EURO 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.

Early figures have indicated a high demand for women’s handball in Norway, one of the sport’s leading nations, with the national team’s matches in the main round reaching market shares of more than 50 per cent. In Denmark, close to 1 million people watched the team’s main round matches according to Nielsen data – 923,000 in the match against Slovenia and 810,000 in the match against the Netherlands – equalling market shares of 61 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively.

Michael Wiederer, EHF President, said: “With 24 teams participating for the first time, this EHF EURO was another milestone in the development of the women’s game. These first numbers indicate a growing appeal of our sport, and we are thrilled to bring the excitement of our flagship national team event to millions of fans around the world."

Julien Ternisien, Senior Vice President Summer and Winter Sports, Infront, said: "Our partnership is a demonstration of how delivering outstanding commercial results can benefit the development of handball in Europe. We look forward to building on this momentum and exploring new opportunities for growth and innovation for the foreseeable future."

The Women’s EHF EURO 2024 marks the first time the women’s tournament features 24 teams, following the successful expansion of the men’s event from 16 to 24 teams in 2020. 

Furthermore, the championship has already proven to be a successful platform for brands to reach a broad audience. The event includes a broad range of partners including Lidl, Engelbert Strauss, Gorenje, Grundfos, Gjensidige, Point S and Admiral. MOL and Würth are also included as sponsors of the women’s event for the first time.